Burning Bridges
by SerenitySparrow
Summary: After saving a lonely woman from dying alone in the woods, Murdock takes it upon himself to keep her protected from the evil men still hunting her.
1. Chapter 1

"_Sometimes you have to burn a few bridges to keep the crazies from following you."_

The wind whipped through her hair and branches scratched at her face as she ran; ran as hard and as fast through the darkened woods as she possibly could. If she kept running, he couldn't get to her. If she disappeared into the darkness of the black night, he would never find her. At least that was what she hoped. What she intended.

A sudden gunshot rang out in the night and the woman yelped as blinding pain suddenly seared through her body. She glanced down at the side ofher body to see that she had been shot in the right side of the stomach. Blood began to seep out of the wound and it stained her white tank top crimson red, but this didn't slow her down. If she paused for even half a second, even to examine the wound, it could mean her demise. She wasn't ready to die yet. And she'd be damned if she was going to give in to death without a fight.

* * *

Whistling merrily, his mind thankfully blank in a rare moment of voice-free thoughts, HM Murdock strolled along the wooded path that led back to the base camp where the rest of his team resided, his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets. He had decided to take an impromptu midnight walk into the woods to clear his head, but for once it seemed there was nothing in his head to clear out. So, instead, he just blindly stared up at the briliant array of stars that twinkled in the sky and reminisced on the events that had led him to current job as an Air Force Ranger with the best Alpha team around who had quickly developed into the best friends he had ever known. Friends who accepted him for who he was and didn't try to change him, though they always teased him about the voices in his head and the invisible friends who sometimes visited him in the night.

Murdock laughed as he thought of the first day he'd met BA Baracus, John 'Hannibal' Smith, and Templeton 'Face' Peck. His attempt at escaping the psych ward had been thwarted when Face had stopped him in the hall, thinking he was a doctor-which had been plausible considering the fact that he'd been dressed in a doctor's white lab coat and nurse's scrubs-and asked him to stitch up his friend. He'd then promptly stitched a lightning bolt into BA's arm, which BA hadn't found at all amusing, and then lit Face's arm on fire when he'd smelled gas on him, as any sane-well, not so sane-person would have done at the time. Of course, those two would never let him live that day down. And BA would never forgive him for pancaking his beloved van with an air conditioning unit.

Passing a small, almost imperceptible clearing, Murdock froze at the sound of a small, animal-like moan of pain. He paused for a beat to listen to the now-silent air around him. When no other sound reached his ears, he started to continue on his way. When he was several feet away from the clearing, there was another moaning sound and this time Murdock was able to identify it as an injured human female.

Spinning on his heel, Murdock stalked back to the clearing and glanced around. The clearing was clear-no pun intended-but Murdock could still hear a woman moaning. He strained his ears to listen carefully and then he followed the moaning to the right, coming to a stop almost immediately beyond the flower bush that had hidden the woman from his view. The woman was only half-conscious and lay sprawled on the dirt-laden ground, clutching the right side of her stomach. Murdock's eyes narrowed and he could see that blood was oozing out of her at a rapid rate from what appeared, at first glance, to be a gunshot wound. Murdock had seen many of those in his day.

Crouching down on his knees next to the woman, Murdock brushed some damp hair from the woman's forehead and jumped when she spun around suddenly, her right hand clenched into a tight fist as she swung out at him in automatic self-defense.

"Whoa!" Murdock cried, hands held up in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you. I swear on my dog Billy, I ain't gonna hurt you."

The womand's dilated, glazed-over blue eyes, watery with unshed tears, stared deeply into Murdock's soul and, apparently satisfied with whatever it was she saw in his own green orbs, lowered her arm back to the forest floor.

"May I take a look?" Murdock asked in a soft, calming voice, pointing to the bullet wound in her side. The woman nodded slowly and closed her eyes in pain as she shifted to her left. She lightly, and with great strenuous effort, lifted the bottom of her white tank top above her waistline. Murdock carefully examined the wound-though he wasn't in all actuality a medical doctor in any way, shape, or form, he was well-versed in minute medical care; stitching and things like that-and realized that she had lost too much blood already. If she continued to bleed out without any medical attention, she was going to die.

"Um, I'm going to have to take you to my camp," Murdock informed her in a gentle, kind voice. "We have a surgical doctor there who can help you." He glanced around to see if she had dropped anything or if there were any personal belongings nearby, but he didnt' see a thing. "I'm going to have to lift you into my arms and it may hurt a bit, but I'm goin' to be as gentle as I can."

The woman briefly closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she nodded.

Murdock took a deep breath and carefully slid his strong arms beneath her pliant, limp body. She moaned in pain as she was jostled into his embrace and he apologized, especially as he stood to his feet and jostled her even more. Her head fell limply against his shoulder and he walked as quickly as he could back to camp, determined to see that this woman survive the night.

* * *

Face, Hannibal, and BA sat around a large campfire, sharing anecdotes and bottles of beer. Well, they didn't actually share the beer. That would be disgusting and unsanitary. The point being they were having a good time aroung a large fire as the flames licked at the bright starry sky.

"Where did Murdock get off the?" Face inquried once there was a lull in the conversation. He'd watched Murdock wander off a little over an hour ago, but he hadn't questioned it because he'd thought the madman would be back after realizing there was nothing out in the woods to do or see. Even his invisible friends wouldn't be able to keep him entertained out there.

BA opened his mouth to reply when his eyes suddenly widened. "Jesus!" he cried, shooting to his feet and dropping his half-full beer to the ground.

"Bossman!" Murdock shouted as he carried a mostly unconscious woman into camp. "This woman needs some medical attention, sir!"

Hannibal leapt to his feet, worry creasing his brows as they drew together. "Get her to the medical tent. Now!"

Murdock walked as fast as he could to the medical tent, Hannibal, BA, and Face following in his wake. Once inside, Murdock gently set her down upon the portable gurney, his eyes instantly dropping down to the wound in her side. His hand started to inch forward, but Hannibal slapped it away.

"Don't," Hannibal ordered him softly. "We don't know how bad it is and the doctor should be the only one messing with it anyhow."

"Where is he?" Murdock asked, concern and impatience lacing his words.

"Right here," Doctor Hernandez replied as he strode quickly into the tent, pulling on some powder-white medical gloves as he went. He ushered Murdock and Hannibal away from the table and gently lifted the woman's shirt, which he had great difficulty doing as it was sticking to her body via the blood. He reached over into the medical kit that sat to the left of the gurney and pulled out a small pair of scissors. He cautiously cut around the material of the woman's shirt and she moaned.

"Do you know what happened?" Hernandez asked both the woman and Murdock. The woman groaned in response, though she was still somewhat coherent, and managed to shake her head slowly in the negative. Hernandez glanced over at Murdock.

"No; don't know a thing. Just found her groaning on the ground with a bullet hole in her." Murdock's fell back to the woman. "She didn't have nothin' with her neither. No wallet or identifcation..."

"Of course not," Face replied with a slight roll of the eyes. "We're in the middle of the jungle. What would she need those things for?"

"Oh;right."

"So you have no idea how long she may have been bleeding out on the ground, then?" Hernandez ripped the bottom of the woman's shirt and began to examine the wound. He was grateful to see that the wound was no longer bleeding, but it was clear she had lost a generous amount of blood.

"No, sir," Murdock replied.

"She's going to need surgery." Hernandez looked up, his gaze going from Murdock to Hannibal and back.

"Whatever it takes," Hannibal replied as Murdock was a little too shell-shocked from all of this.

Hernandez leaned over the table to stare into the woman's eyes, whose gaze was losing focus fast. "Ma'am, can you tell me your name? Can you tell me that much at least?"

"K..." The woman choked on her own saliva and suffered from a brief coughing fit. "Karina," she whispered just before her head slumped backwards and her eyes fell closed.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I'm not a medical doctor or anything, so forgive me for any unrealistic details in this chapter or in the future. I, of course, try to make the story as believable as possible.

As usual, I own nothing to do with the A-Team, TV series or movies, or any of the actors involved. (Such a shame)

* * *

_"Don't ever let them silence you."_

"So, you were just walking along and happened to stumble across this woman?" Face asked Murdock as the four teammates waited almost impatiently outside the medical tent while Hernandez operated on the woman; Karina, she said her name was. At least she had remembered that much.

"Basically," Murdock replied as he leaned forward and back on the balls of his feet. "How long does surgery take?"

Hannibal sighed as he puffed on a cigar, his favorite vice, and he blew the smoke out of his mouth. He mostly smoke in celebration or nervous anticiaption; this was obviously the latter. "Depends on a number of things, Murdock. If the bullet is still inside her, Hernandez is going to have to retrieve that, first of all. Once that's done, or the bullet was not inside her, he's going to have to... Well, she's lost a lot of blood, Murdock. Who knows how long she'd been bleeding out before you found her. Once the surgery's over, she'll be connected to an IV drip and pints of blood will be pumped back into her system."

"How?" Murdock nervously scratched the nape of his neck. "I mean, how will they know her blood type?"

"Hernandez has equipment that will tell him that."

Face anxiously rubbed his bottom lip with the tip of his left index finger. "What we need to figure out is if she's a threat to **us.**"

"She's unconscious and can barely move," Murdock pointed out, slightly angry in Karina's defense. "How could she possibly be a threat to us?"

"No, Face is right." Hannibal glanced around at all his men. "She herself is physically no threat to us. That much is clear. But we're going to have to find out **why **she was shot. There are many enemy camps in this area of the country, as you know. She could have come from one of them as a prisoner and if they're missing her..."

"They may come looking for her," BA finished.

"Precisely. We need to know if she's friend or foe."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say she's a friend," Murdock muttered and Face readily agreed. (Of course, if it was even remotely female, Face would determinedly state that she was on their side and if not, he could certainly convince her to be.) "I think she's been running for her life. When I went to check on her, she instantly attacked me. Thought I was going to hurt her."

"Wow," Face murmured in open admiration. "Struggling to stay alive and still managing to defend herself? Sounds like a feisty woman."

"Uh-oh," BA mumbled as his eyes fell on Face. "He got that look in his eye. Don't even think it, fool."

"I wasn't thinking anything," Face insisted. "I was just making a statement. A statement which, I might point out, was one of respect and nothing else."

Hannibal sighed and flicked the remainder of his cigar to the ground and smashed it beneath the heel of his boot. "At least we know her name." He sighed again and ran his left hand down his weary face. "You boys go and get some sleep. I'll stay up and wait for the doctor's diagnosis."

"Will it take all night?" Murdock asked quietly as Face and BA gratefully stood to their feet and headed off towards their own respective tents on the opposite end of the compound.

"I honestly don't know, Murdock," Hannibal replied. "But you go get some sleep and I'll let you know how it goes in the morning. She should at least be resting up by then, if nothing else."

Worry passed through Murdock's green eyes and then quickly faded into his usual vacant stare. "Righty-oh, guvnuh!" he muttered in a Cockney accent just before he saluted his boss and marched off to his tent that had been set up between Face's and BA's.

Hannibal sighed as he watched Murdock stride away. Under normal circumstances, Hannibal didn't much have to worry about his favorite pilot unless he hadn't taken his meds in quite some time and that didn't happen too terribly often. Murdock had always been diligent with taking his medication. Usually not for himself, but for the sake of the team he would give his life for.

There had been an expression in Murdock's eyes that Hannibal had never seen in **his **eyes before, though he'd certainly seen it in Face's eyes plenty of times. The thought startled Hannibal. If this woman survived the gunshot wound and the subsequent loss of blood, Hannibal was going to have to keep an extra careful eye on his pilot.

* * *

Murdock had had trouble sleeping before. It came with the territory when one was in the army and and then on the run from the US government for a crime they hadn't committed, not to mention all the nights he'd spent awake in the mental wards he'd been committed to over the years. But tonight's insomnia was different. His mind was churning with thoughts of the poor woman he'd found lying alone and dying in the woods. He couldn't imagine being in her position. Granted, as dangerous as this job was, he probably would one day die in a horrible chopper crash or get shot in the head or something like that. But he most certainly wouldn't be alone when that happened. He would have Faceman and Bosco and the bossman with him. She'd had no one.

Murdock groaned, threw his feet over the side of his cot, and stood up. It was obvious he wasn't going to be getting to bed any time soon. Someone had to worry about that girl. He was the man who had found her; he would be the man to worry about her. From the moment he'd lifted that small, frail body into his arms, he'd taken responsibility for her well-being. If she didn't make it through the night... Murdock really didn't need any more voices cluttering up his head.

Quietly stepping out through his tent's flap, Murdock glanced around him. It was at least past two, maybe three, in the morning, so the camp was eerily silent. He could hear BA snoring loudly in his tent and he shook his head with a fond smile. He strolled past Face's tent, who always slept naked no matter what the circumstances or temperature-Murdock didn't even want to recall **how** he had discovered that about his teammate as it wasn't very pleasant-and walked quietly through the clustered array of tents that littered his path as he made his way to the medical tent.

Hannibal was leaning back in a folding lawn chair outside the tent, eyes closed, arms folded over his muscular chest, and legs crossed at the ankle. He wasn't snoring like he usually did, which meant he was only dozing. He wasn't in full sleep mode. At least not yet.

Murdock came to a quiet stop next to the chair Hannibal napped in and, of course, the moment he stopped, his right foot crunched loudly on a big green leaf. Hannibal shot up like a banshee, taking Murdock off-guard, and he went sprawling to the ground ungracefully.

"Murdock." Hannibal shook his head and reached down to help Murdock to his feet. "I told you to get some sleep; **I **would stand watch."

"I couldn't sleep, bossman," Murdock admitted as he dusted himself off from the fall. He was dressed in his usual cartoon pajama pants and a black Batman T-shirt. Sometimes he slept shirtless, sometimes he didn't. It all depended on his mood.

Hannibal nodded in understanding and gestured for him to take a seat in the empty lawn chair next to the one he'd been occupying. Once Murdock had taken a seat, Hannibal reclaimed his. "You're worried, aren't you, Captain?" Hannibal asked.

Murdock nodded. "I don't know why, sir. I don't even know the woman."

"You don't have to know her, Murdock. You wouldn't be human if you weren't concerned about another human's suffering, especially that of a woman."

Murdock nodded in complete understanding. "Is she out of surgery?"

"I don't think so."

"It's not looking good, is it? I mean, the longer a person is in surgery, the less likely it is that they'll make it, right?"

"That's not quite how it works, Murdock."

Just at that moment, Hernandez stepped out of the medical tent, wiping blood off of his hands. That sight certainly didn't set Murdock's mind at ease.

Both Murdock and Hannibal jumped to their feet in unison.

"Well?" Hannibal asked as, next to him, Murdock nervously wrung his hands together.

"Well, as you already know, Karina did lose a lot of blood, but I found some pints of her blood type and pumped some extra pints into her body and she pulled through the surgery just fine. She may be unconscious for a few days and it may take her even longer to regain her memories of the past few days, maybe even the last several weeks, but in the long run she should be just fine."

Both Murdock and Hannibal released collective sighs of relief.

"I'm exhausted," Hernandez muttered with a yawn. "And I have several patients coming in tomorrow for their routine physicals. We'll need to relocate Karina to another tent, along with the IV drip. So, who wants to house her?"

"I will," Murdock instantly volunteered. Hannibal glanced over at him, left brow quirked questioningly into the air, but he voiced no comment. "There's plenty of room in my tent and I don't think I'll be getting much sleep tonight anyhow, so I'll be able to keep an eye on her."

Hernandez glanced at Hannibal for confirmation and Hannibal nodded an affirmative.

Hannibal and Hernandez were exceedingly careful as they transported Karina from the medical tent to Murdock's tent. Hannibal carried the unconscious woman gently in his arms as Hernandez pushed the IV drip pole along beside him. Murdock shuffled his feet awkwardly as he followed behind them. He sped ahead of them quickly when they reached his tent to hold the flap open for the two other men. They thanked him as they walked insided and headed for the spare cot on the opposite side of the tent from the one Murdock himself slept on. Murdock was grateful that, for once, he had followed through with his promise to himself to straighten up his tent and he'd cleared off the spare cot that very morning.

Hannibal gently laid Karina down on the cot and brushed some tendrils of hair away from her face. She made an unidentifiable noise in the back of her throat and shifted to her left, facing Hannibal and the others.

Hannibal stood to his feet and turned to Murdock. "You'll need to keep an eye on her. At least for awhile. I'm not asking you to stay up all night..."

"You know I don't mind that, boss," Murdock insisted.

"I know." Hannibal placed his hand on Murdock's right shoulder and squeezed. "You're a good man, Murdock. And right now..." Hannibal glanced over at Karina and Murdock's eyes automatically followed his direct line of sight. Hannibal turned back to Murdock. "...this woman needs you, Murdock."

Murdock's eyes locked with Hannibal's and he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Aw, shucks, bossman, no one's ever needed me before."

Hannibal shook his head with a chuckle. "You know that's not true, Murdock. Your team always needs you; always!" He patted Murdock on the shoulder once more and then quietly left the tent.

Hernandez turned to Murdock to issue some instructions. "I'll be back to check on her condition in the morning, of course, but I'm going to need you to make sure that this little IV drip..." Hernandez bent down and pointed to the long tube that attached the IV pole to the needle that pierced Karina's pale skin. "...does not get pulled out, whether it be from her tossing and turning or for any other reason." Hernandez straightened back up to his feet. "Got that?"

Murdock slammed his feet together and promptly saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

Hernandez nodded with an exasperated sigh and then left the tent as well.

Now left alone with the woman he'd rescued, Murdock sighed and took a moment to observe the sleeping beauty. And she was a beauty, Murdock reluctantly admitted. Her hair was a dark golden-brown color with natural blonde highlights interspersed throughout the strands; her lips were a lush red color with a slight full pout to them that, under any other circumstance, would drive any man, sane or otherwise, to his knees with desire; her body, now draped in a standard backless hospital gown, was undeniably curvy-he'd felt the proof of that when he'd carried her in his arms. He hadn't really gotten to see her eyes, though. Murdock loved a woman's eyes. They could tell a man so much when their lips refused to say a thing.

Without any thought, Murdock reached out and gently ran the pad of his rough thumb over the skin of her forehead. Her skin was soft and clammy, but other than that... She didn't appear to have a fever of any kind.

Karina moaned, her eyes slowly opening, taking Murdock aback; he jumped nearly a foot into the air.

"You..." Karina licked her dry lips. "You're the angel who saved me." Somehow, her small, shaky hand found Murdock's and squeezed. Murdock squeezed back and wondered what the unexpected racing of his pulse meant.

"I ain't no angel," Murdock muttered, glancing shyly down at the floor of his tent.

"Don't..." Karina was quickly fading back into unconsciousness. "You should never let them silence you." And then she was out again, her grip on Murdock's hand loosening just before her hand fell limply to the cot.


	3. Chapter 3

_"In a dream, you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy."_

Murdock wasn't quite sure how he'd made it through the night without going crazy. Well, crazier than usual anyway. He stayed up most nights, but never had to really worry about keeping his voice down while he paced the length of the tent talking to the voices in his head. His eyes had constantly been on Karina, shifting only when she started to moan and shift in her sleep. He didn't want to be caught staring like some kind of creeper if she woke up suddenly, like she had earlier.

Now the sun's bright rays lit up the world around him and Murdock had no idea what to do. Karina was still asleep and it was past time that Murdock left the tent to go prepare breakfast for the troops. But Murdock didn't want to leave poor Karina all by herself. What if she woke up all alone in a strange new world? Murdock knew from experience that that wasn't a pleasant sensation. Especially if one was alone in a vast forest with little outside communication and unfamiliar faces.

"Hey Murdock."

Murdock jumped in surprise as Face strolled casually into his tent like he owned the place, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.

Face smirked at this reaction. "Sorry, buddy, didn't mean to startle you." His gaze drifted over to Karina. "Wow; I didn't really get to see anything but her profile last night, but she really is a hottie, huh?"

Murdock glanced briefly over at Karina and shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose so; but personally I like my women, well, awake."

Face laughed and nodded in agreement. "You gonna get started on breakfast, buddy?"

Again, Murdock automatically glanced over at Karina. "I want to, Facey, but I don't think I should leave her alone."

Face followed his gaze and then turned back to Murdock. "Don't worry, HM, I'll keep an eye on her."

Murdock eyed Face uncertainly.

Face rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to do anything, Murdock. I don't know the girl; I have more scruples than that. And besides that, she's unconscious!"

Shrugging, Murdock headed for the tent exit. "What would you like for breakfast, Facey?"

"My usual, buddy, my usual."

Murdock opened his mouth to speak, but Face quickly cut him off.

"**Without **your secret sauce."

Murdock grumbled beneath his breath and strolled out of the tent.

* * *

Face leaned back in the black rolling chair Murdock had dragged in from outside and flipped through one of the pilot's favorite aviator magazines. He released a heavy breath of boredom, wondering what, exactly, Murdock found so enticing about choppers and planes. Sure, Face had a respectable appreciation for the mechanics and layout of the vehicles that could transport people all over the world within a matter of days, but to be so hung up on them as to actually dream about the damn things... Yeah, Murdock had told him all about that dream where he'd been piloting a Boeing 747 and Face, BA, and Hannibal had all been transformed into wild possums who ran carelessly all around the cockpit as Murdock calmly tried to land the plane in the middle of a deserted and dried up sea. (Apparently even possum BA had had a mohawk, which made Face crack up to think of it.)

Face shook his head and tossed the magazine onto Murdock's empty cot. He steepled his fingers together as he glanced to his right, where Karina lay. She had shifted in her sleep and was now facing the tent away from him. The back of her gown had fallen open and Face's mouth watered at the sight of her smooth round ass and the blue rose tattoo above that deliciously enticing ass. She wasn't naked, not entirely, but the thong she wore certainly didn't cover up a whole hell of a lot.

He should look away. Face knew he should. But it had been too many months since he'd come anywhere close to female interaction, or actually seeing a female in the flesh, that he couldn't help it. The one Playboy he'd brought along with him had gotten tossed out by Hannibal one night when Face had foolishly gotten drunk and started 'entertaining' himself with the magazine in front of them all.

"Breakfast is served!" Murdock sang as he came into the tent and Face jumped up out of his seat guiltily, hoping Murdock didn't notice. He didn't know why he felt so guilty. Karina wasn't Murdock's girl. (Although he supposed the reason he felt so guilty was because he'd been ogling an unconscious woman, no matter how hot she was, who'd been shot in the side of the stomach.)

"Thanks, buddy," Face muttered quickly. A little too quickly and Face realized that a bit belatedly.

"What's wrong, Face?" Murdock asked, his gaze automatically drifting over to Karina. His eyes widened and he stumbled forward in reaction to the sight of Karina's bare ass out there for all the world to see. He handed Face his plate of sausage links, eggs over-easy, and lightly burnt toast and rushed over to the cot to quickly adjust the blanket over Karina's body. When he turned his attention back to Face, Face smirked at the pinkish hue now coloring Murdock's cheeks.

"You were starin' at her, weren't you, Facey? That's why you looked so guilty."

Face chuckled, but didn't respond, instead scooping up a forkful of egg and shoving it unattractively into his mouth.

"Facey, man..."

Face observed Murdock carefully as the other man mumbled beneath his breath as he moved about the tent, unable to stand still for longer than two seconds at a time. He was still dressed in his pajamas from the night before and his hair was a wild mess, sticking out all over the place (though that was nothing new). He kept glancing over at the cot where Karina slept and every time he did, his cheeks flushed bright red.

"You okay, Murdock?"

Murdock jumped slightly at the suddenness of Face's voice and he spun around to face him. "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

Murdock sighed and scratched at the side of his face as he moved closer to Face. "I just... I don't understand why anybody would shoot an unarmed woman. And I talked to the doctor when he came in earlier. Did you know he found about twenty bruises on her? From head to toe? Like somebody had beaten her. Like...like a man had beaten her. Why would a man want to hurt a woman like that?"

Face's chest swelled with anger. "I don't know, Murdock. Maybe she knew something she wasn't supposed to know. Maybe she turned traitor to a powerful man."

"Still no reason to hit a defenseless woman."

"I agree, Murdock. Abuse against women and children are high up on my list of men worth killing with no remorse. Maybe we'll find out her story when she wakes up."

"She might not remember."

Karina shifted in her sleep again and in the harsh light of day, they could see a large purple and blue bruise forming on Karina's right cheek and a small scar just starting to heal on her neck right below her ear.

Face turned to Murdock. "Maybe it would be best for her if she didn't remember."

* * *

"How's she doing?" Hannibal asked Murdock a few hours later, after Murdock had had the chance to shower and shave. He'd only been back to his tent once after that as he and the others had been busy working on the layout of a plan to infiltrate one of the nearby enemy camps.

"Still sleeping like a baby," Murdock replied. "She did wake up once, right after Hernandez left last night."

This news surprised Hannibal. "She did?"

"Yeah. I think this girl's a fighter, sir."

"She say anything?"

Murdock blushed slightly and glanced down at the ground. "She said I was an angel. Angel that saved her."

"Well, you are. I fully agree with that. Anything else?"

"Something about not letting anybody silence me. That was it, sir."

"Hmm." Hannibal thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "Maybe she'll come to quicker than we anticipated and she'll remember enough to tell us what happened."

Murdock nodded.

"Face and I need you to show us where you found her and then we'll narrow down the possibilities of where she may have come from."

"But what about Karina?"

"BA will keep an eye on her."

Murdock ran his hand through his disheveled brown hair and breathed out deeply. Then he nodded in agreement.

Hannibal wrapped his right arm around Murdock's shoulders in a fatherly gesture and led him back to his tent to grab a few items, namely weapons in case they happened upon the enemy in the woods.

* * *

"This is where you found her?" Face asked as he crouched down next to a small puddle of dried blood.

"Yes." Murdock pointed to an area about an inch to the right of the puddle. "She was lying right there."

Hannibal's eyes homed in on the bushes several feet behind the area Murdock had pointed to. Two of the lush green bushes appeared to have been trampled through as they stuck out at odd angles from the rest of the plant life around them.

"Those bushes over there have been disturbed," Hannibal informed the others as he stood to his feet.

"That must be the way Karina was running away from," Face commented.

"Exactly. Which means that's the way **we're** headed."

* * *

BA's head shot up at the sound of movement coming from Murdock's tent. He tossed his motorcycle magazine to the chair beside him and stood to his feet. Walking forward, his feet striking the ground with the force of three much smaller men, BA marched straight into the tent without preamble and nearly had a heart attack when Karina screamed loudly at the sight of him.

"Who the hell are you?!" Karina demanded, clutching the hospital gown close to her body as BA paused just inside the tent, his hands held up in a gesture of peace. "Where am I? What do you want with me?"

"Fool, I don't want anything with you," BA grumbled in response. "And you can call me Bosco or BA. Whichever you prefer."

"What happened to me?" Karina glanced down at the gown she wore and the IV needle that still pressed into her skin. When she looked up at BA, she nearly fell him with the tears that shined in her eyes. "Please, tell me something. Anything."

BA sighed, feeling extremely uncomfortable as a single teardrop slid down Karina's bruised right cheek. "My pal Murdock...he found you out in the woods last night. You was bleeding from a bullet wound and would have died if he hadn't gotten you back here when he did."

"I was shot?"

BA nodded an affirmative.

"Where?"

"In the right side of your stomach, I think."

Karina gently lifted the bottom of the gown upwards and BA politely looked the other way. She tenderly fingered the bandage on her skin and then flinched in discomfort. She dropped the gown and turned to look at BA, who looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"So I'm not in any danger here?"

BA turned to look into Karina's eyes. "No, ma'am; we would never hurt you."

"Who's 'we?'"

"My team and me. We, uh, we work for the military. We're an elite group, you might say."

"You protect the innocent?" That was all she really needed, wanted, to know.

BA nodded with a friendly smile. "Yep."

"Are you sure I'm innocent?"

"Do you believe you're not?"

"Oh, I'm sure I am, but I wish I knew how I wound up in the middle of the jungle or wherever it is I am. The last I knew, I'd never been out of America."

BA chuckled humorlessly. "Well, you're certainly not there now. Not North America, anyway."

Karina sank down onto the cot she'd vacated and inhaled a deep, shaky breath. BA pulled up the rolling chair about two feet from the cot and sat across from her.

"So, what's the last thing you can remember?" BA asked in as gentle and calming a voice as he could muster.

"Um...running."Karina's grip tightened on the IV pole as she struggled to recall any of the previous night's events or even the past week's events. "People were chasing me, shouting in a language I couldn't decipher. The next thing I remember is falling and then an angel wearing a brown leather jacket was hovering over me."

BA chuckled at Karina's description of Murdock. "That would be my buddy, Murdock. He was the one who found you."

Karina closed her eyes for a few brief seconds. "Can I talk to him? I'd like to thank him personally. I owe him my life."

"He ain't here right now. He and the others went back to track where you came from."

"Oh." Karina's stomach grumbled loudly at that moment and she blushed furiously. "Um, I guess I'm a little hungry. Do you have anything I can eat?"

BA chuckled, whatever uneasiness he'd been feeling about this woman quickly dissipating. "We have some leftovers from last night's dinner. I can heat em' up for you, but I gotta tell ya, Murdock is the real chef of the group."

Karina started to follow BA out of the tent, but she froze suddenly. "Um, do you have anything I can wear besides this stupid gown?"

BA turned and chuckled at her attire. "Yeah. We still have your pants and...undergarments, one of which you're probably still wearing, but we had to tear your shirt apart."

"I figured as much."

BA marched over to the trunk that lay at the end of Murdock's cot and opened it up to pull out one of Murdock's blue Superman T-shirts. He shut the trunk and walked over to Karina and handed her the shirt.

"While you change, I'll go heat up the food."

"Bosco?"

BA turned to Karina just as he had one foot set outside the tent flap.

"Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't know why I keep forgetting to do these. *SMH* As always, I own nobody involved with the A-team, actors or character-wise.

Whatever may seem unplausible or unrealistic in this chapter, I apologize for it. It is fantasy, after all, and I hope you enjoy it anyway. And also, the characters may be a bit OOC sometimes, but it's what works for the story. Forgive me.

Warning: Violent scene towards the end of the chapter. If you get quesy or don't like that kind of thing, skip ahead.

* * *

_"I don't know the way, but I'll be there soon."_

__Hannibal, Face, and Murdock had already gone a little over a mile from where Karina had been found. Face grumbled a lot of the time, mostly about the sharp edges of the leaves slicing into his skin. He was finally silenced when Hannibal caught sight of a bright object lying haphazardly in the middle of the forest floor.

"What is it, bossman?" Murdock asked as he scratched the nape of his neck. It was past time he got a haircut. He loved his hair, he wouldn't be cutting much of it off, but in this heated climate it only made him unnecessarily uncomfortable.

Hannibal held up the blue bag he'd found clinging to a purple orchid bush. "Looks like a woman's purse," he replied to Murdock's inquiry. He flipped the flap open and peered inside. Most of whatever items had, at one point, been inside the bag were long since gone, most likely having fallen out during Karina's romp through the bushes. What was left inside was a romance novel, a wallet, and a hairbrush. When he zipped open the hidden pocket inside, he found female sanitary products.

Hannibal removed the wallet and pulled it open, finding Karina's driver's license inside, along with several credit cards, gift cards, and a few dollars in cash and coins.

Murdock peered down over Hannibal's shoulders as he inspected the driver's license. "Hey! She's a Cancer baby!"

Face grinned. "That explains the feistiness."

Murdock frowned slightly at Face's obvious interest and curiousity over their latest potential...well, client, for lack of a better word, but he didn't make a comment on it.

"And she lives in Florida," Hannibal added as he slipped the license back into the wallet and then he placed the wallet back into the purse. He stood to his feet and automatically slung the purse over his shoulder.

Face and Murdock snickered at their colonel.

"What? What's so funny?" Hannibal demanded.

"I didn't realize blue was your color, Colonel," Face replied with a loud guffaw.

Hannibal sneered and tossed the purse at Face. "You hold it then. You're pretty enough for an accessory, Lieutenant."

Murdock laughed loudly as Face begrudgingly slid the strap of the purse onto his left shoulder.

Hannibal chuckled at the horrified expression on Face's visage as the purse fell into place on his body. "Well, at least we know we're definitely on the right path."

* * *

"This is really good," Karina mumbled as she scarfed down a mouthful of Murdock's infamous curry and toast points.

"Yeah. Murdock's crazy, but he a damn good cook," BA replied as he himself dipped his spoon into his own bowl of curry.

Karina's face paled at BA's words. "Crazy? Like...psychotic crazy?"

BA quickly backtracked his statement. "No, no. Well, I mean, he takes meds and stuff for his delusions, but he would never hurt you. He would never hurt nobody if they didn't rightly deserve it. He's a good guy, a loveable guy."

Karina released a deep breath of relief.

"Do me a favor, though," BA continued. "When you meet him and when you talk to him, don't tell that fool I said any of that shit. He'll never let me live it down and I won't know how to defend myself against it."

Karina laughed, feeling surprisingly at ease with BA.

* * *

Happening upon a small camp filled with about 15 men-no women in sight-almost two miles from where they'd found Karina's purse, Hannibal, Face, and Murdock crouched down behind the bushes to observe them. All of them appeared at ease, as though nothing were out of place, but Hannibal knew better. He'd been in the army for well over 25 years and he knew when men were at ease and when they were pretending to be at ease to fool anyone who might be watching them from afar. These men weren't stupid. Not stupid at all.

"What are we dealing with here, boss?" Face asked in a hushed tone, his eyes straying from one soldier to the next.

"I don't know, Face. Nothing appears out of the ordinary, but in camps like these, with men like these, one can never be too careful."

"These men were holding Karina hostage?" Murdock asked gruffly, an edge of hostile protectiveness lacing his words.

"We don't know that for certain, Captain," Hannibal replied calmly. "Remember to keep a cool head about you."

At that moment, a short man-only about 5'5, maybe 5'6-stepped out of the large tent that rested among all the other smaller ones. He wore a dark green uniform, had about seven stars on the left sleeve of his jacket, and wore an absurdly dark black mustache beneath his large crooked nose. This man was clearly the man in charge of whatever operation was being run here and Hannibal knew exactly who this bastard was.

"Valisimo," Hannibal murmured beneath his breath.

Face and Murdock glanced at him questioningly. "Who?" they asked in unison.

"Vladimir Valisimo, one of Bogota's most feared dictators in all the city's history."

"I've heard of him," Face muttered as his gaze fell back on Valisimo. "He buys and sells people, no matter what their age, sex, or race. He specializes in the sex trade and will torture and murder anyone who defies him or tries to stop him."

Murdock's jaw clenched and he balled both hands into tight fists. "Do you think he was going to sell Karina?"

"Either that or she was trying to stop him, which would have been a very stupid thing to do on her part. Or, perhaps, he was planning on keeping her for himself, which is always a possibility."

Neither thought comforted Murdock at all and he longed to do something stupid, like slide down this hill and twist that man's neck off his shoulders for daring to touch a beautiful and innocent woman like Karina. Thankfully, though, Murdock did have a few sane voices in his head to keep him from doing something so foolish and suicidal.

* * *

Valisimo glanced angrily amongst his men, all of whom looked shame-faced as they tried valiantly not to meet his death glare. "Who did it?!" Valisimo demanded in a high-pitched, Russian accent.

All of the men shuffled their feet nervously.

"Who let that American bitch get away? I want their head on a platter! Now!"

One brave, foolish man stepped forward. "I didn't **let **her get away, sir. She escaped her bonds somehow and attacked me."

One other voice spoke up out of the crowd. "She didn't escape her bonds, you traitor! You allowed yourself to be bewitched by her good looks and you untied her yourself!"

The man who had first spoken up grew red with anger. "I did no such thing!" He tuned to face Valisimo, who appeared calm and collected, but he knew better. "In any case, it doesn't matter. I shot that whore dead!"

"How can you be sure she's dead?" one man cried out from the crowd, a man who stood to Valisimo's left.

"If the shot didn't kill her, she bled to death quickly. Believe me, I know how to aim my damn gun!"

Valisimo moved forward and the crowd parted for him. "You should have brought her back." His voice was low, dangerous and deep, and it made the entire crowd of men cower in fear. "That woman...was mine!" He struck out at the nameless man's face, instantly breaking his nose. The man howled in pain and clutched at his now-bleeding face. "If I'd wanted her dead, I'd have done it myself!"

Valisimo pulled a long thin metal wire out of his right front pocket and wrapped it around the man's throat. There was a vicious smile on his face as he squeezed it tighter and tighter and tighter until the man struggled heavily to breathe. Using all of his strenth, Valisimo yanked on the wire until the man's neck snapped so violently that his head was now hanging halfway off his shoulders.

Valisimo calmly removed the wire and the man's limp body fell to the ground with a loud thud. Not bothering to wipe the blood from the wire, Valisimo slipped the wire back into his pocket and glanecd about his camp, as though he hadn't just murdered one of his own men in cold blood.

"Let this be a lesson to you," Valisimo announced to the rest of his men, all of whom had gone extremely pale. "Unless I give you direct orders to kill someone in my possession, you do not do so! Especially if it's a man, woman, or child whom I have already labeled as my own! Does everybody understand?"

All the men were quick to agree and they saluted him as he dismissed them and walked back into his own tent.

* * *

"I think I'm going to be sick," Murdock muttered, face pale.

"Karina got extremely lucky to have escaped that brutal beast," Face added, his hands clenched into fists on top of his thighs. He turned to address Hannibal, who remained quietly thoughtful as he rubbed at his lower lip. "If he finds out Karina's still alive, I don't think anything will stop him from coming for her."

"I will!" Murdock declared vehemently, a fire in his green eyes that Face had never seen before. He found it oddly disturbing.

"He has an army of troops, Murdock," Face pointed out. "Not just here, but in other camps out in the forest. One man alone can't stop them."

"If he finds her, he'll rape her and kill her! You gonna let him do that, Facey?"

"Of course not! But we have to be realistic here, Murdock! They're going to come looking for a body and when they don't find one, they'll start checking all the camps for an American woman, including ours."

"He's right, Murdock," Hannibal said at last.

Murdock glowered at Hannibal. "Are you suggesting we just hand Karina back to that crazy bastard and hope for the best? Hope maybe he even gives us a reward for it?"

Hannibal shot Murdock a hard, agitated look. "No, Captain, I am most emphatically **not **saying that." He sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Let's just get back to camp before they discover us and work out a plan there."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Do not own the A-Team.**

**AN: Again, whatever inaccuracies may be in the story, or spelling errors, or just things that may seem ridiculously unlikely, I apologize. This includes the location, which will probably never really be identified, so whatever mistakes there may be about the areas, please forgive.**

**And now, on with the story.**

* * *

_"Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. You don't have to live forever. You just have to live."_

Hannibal, Face, and Murdock came to an abrupt halt at the edge of their camp. The last thing any of them had been expecting was to see BA and Karina talking and laughing together as they played some sort of card game with two different decks of cards. Hell, they hadn't even expected Karina to be awake yet alone up and about and somehow getting BA to laugh. Not that BA was one of those people who never smiled, but he was well-known for being easily tempered.

The three men exchanged looks and paced their steps evenly as they made their way over to Karina and BA, neither of whom had noticed their arrival yet. BA growled at Karina when she won a hand of whatever they were playing, but it was a growl of fondness.

BA and Karina finally looked up when the other three men's shadows fell over them. Karina flushed at the sight of the three muscular men, especially when her gaze fell on Face, but slowly stood to her feet.

Hannibal broke the silence first. "You recovered much faster than the doctor had predicted."

"When was I supposed to recover?" Karina asked, trying not to shift uncomfortably under the heavy weight of the men's stares.

"He thought it would be a couple of days, at least. By the way, I'm Colonel Hannibal Smith." Hannibal held out his right hand and Karina hesitantly lifted her own to shake it. "How are you feeling?"

Karina shrugged, her eyes occasionally glancing over to Murdock as he wouldn't stop staring at her and the Superman T-shirt she wore. "Surprisingly well for someone who was shot in the stomach," she replied to Hannibal's inquiry.

Hannibal chuckled, whatever tension he may have been feeling about Karina's presence dissolving almost immediately. "Well, these are my boys. This is Face." He pointed over to the tall dark blonde-haired man to his left.

Face took Karina's hand in his own and charmingly pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it. "Charmed," Face muttered, smiling that dazzling dimpled grin that always had the women swooning and eager to rip their panties off for him.

"And Murdock, the man who saved your life." Hannibal nodded towards the slightly disheveled brunette, whose eyes Karina couldn't see too well beneath the brim of the faded red baseball cap he wore.

Karina blushed when Murdock tipped the hat up so she could see into his eyes, which were a beautiful light shade of green that shimmered beneath the sun's bright rays. He nodded at her in acknowledgment, but didn't speak.

"And you've clearly already met BA," Hannibal finished up.

Coming back to herself, Karina recalled that she hadn't officially introduced herself. "I'm, um, I'm Karina."

"Let's sit down and have a drink," Hannibal suggested. The five of them took up the lawn chairs that littered the ground and Hannibal reached down into the cooler at his feet. He pulled out two ice-cold bottles of beer and held one out to Karina.

"No thanks," Karina declined politely. "I don't think I'm supposed to be drinking with the medication the doctor prescribed me."

Hannibal shook his head at himself. "I'm sorry. That was rather callous of me..."

Karina waved him off with a friendly smile. "I appreciate the offer. Thank you-Hannibal, was it?"

Hannibal nodded; after he'd tossed Face, BA, and Murdock some beer, Hannibal unscrewed the cap on his own bottle of beer and took a long, drawn-out sip. "Can you tell me what you remember of last night, Karina?" he asked, leaning forward on his chair, his elbows resting on his knees.

Karina shook her head, her smile fading. "I really wish I could, but I don't remember a damn thing. I know who I am, kind of, and I know where I'm from, I think. But I can't even tell you what I do for a living or where I actually live or anything like that."

"Oh!" A little dismayed at how comfortable he'd been holding a woman's purse that he'd actually forgotten he still wore it, Face removed Karina's purse from his shoulder and tossed it to her; she caught it with some surprise. "You live in Florida, according to your driver's license. But that's about all we can tell you."

"Well, that's better than nothing, I suppose," Karina replied as she automatically began to rifle through her purse. "Was this all that was in here?"

"Yes," Hannibal replied; Murdock still hadn't said a word and that wasn't like him at all. "Is there anything that you can assume is missing? Anything you recall always having on your person at all times?"

"Um..." Karina bit down on her bottom lip as she continued to rummage through the few items in her purse, trying to think of what was missing. "I think...I usually have, like, hand sanitizer and stuff like that. Little things. Nothing of vital importance, though. Maybe these three things were all I brought with me." She flipped the purse upside down and dumped the contents onto the ground. All the men's eyes widened at the title of her romance novel-'Forbidden Pleasure'-and Karina blushed and immediately pushed the book back into her purse after she had checked all the inner pockets and came up empty. "Although I do wonder...I'm sure I had a cell phone with me. Why would I come to a foreign land with no way to communicate with anyone?"

Hannibal, Murdock, and Face all exchanged knowing looks, which Karina caught.

"What?" Karina glanced amongst them all. "What was that look?"

"Nothing," Hannibal replied right away. "There are several thoughts and inklings as to how you might have wound up here, but none that make much sense at the moment. None that are pieced together, anyway."

Karina sighed, placed the remaining items back into her purse, and then lightly kicked it off to the side. "Well, that's a bit disappointing." She glanced around and then realized she hadn't yet thanked them for their hospitality; she blushed. "Thank you for everything you've done for me so far. You don't know me from Adam and you didn't hesitate to help me. I don't know if I would ever have been able to have done the same."

"We haven't done much," Hannibal murmured as he set his beer down on the ground next to his chair. "But you're very welcome." His eyes landed pointedly on the still quiet Murdock. "Murdock here was the one who brought you into camp, like I said."

Karina's eyes drifted over to Murdock, whose cheeks began to turn red at the sudden female attention. "Yes, that's what I hear. Thank you, Mr. Murdock, for saving my life."

All eyes now fell on Murdock and everyone waited expectantly for him to say something.

"It was nothing," Murdock said at last, his cheeks now flaming. He usually didn't mind attention, but it seemed the presence of this particular beautiful woman seemed to affect his self-conscious instincts to shield himself from the views of others.

"Saving my life was not 'nothing,'" Karina replied, somewhat offended. "Saving anyone's life is never 'nothing.'"

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded," Murdock insisted, shame-faced. He nervously removed his ball cap and twisted it in his hands. "I mean to say- You're welcome. And just Murdock or James is fine. No need for the mister. I ain't Hannibal's age yet."

Face and BA laughed at that while Hannibal scowled.

"I am not **that **old," Hannibal grit out.

Face decided to change the subject. "You look really hot in Murdock's shirt," he told Karina with a flirtatious smile.

Karina blushed and instinctively pulled at the bottom of the blue shirt in question. "Thanks." She turned to Murdock, whose eyes had dilated a bit as they fell on her bosom that thrust the giant 'S' forward. "I hope you don't mind. Bosco said my own shirt was ruined and..."

Murdock shook his head. "I don't mind at all. You couldn't very well walk a men's camp half-naked, could you?" He blushed at the images his own words created. "And like Facey said, you look good in it. I could never pull that off."

"No matter how much alcohol the rest of us drink," Face remarked smartly, smirking at the glare Murdock sent him.

BA shook his head with affectionate annoyance. "Let's get back to the subject that's important. Did you fools discover anything on your little trek out into the forest?"

That question sobered everybody up immediately.

Hannibal's eyes locked with Karina's. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Karina blanched slightly. "Is it that bad?"

"Well, we don't know exactly how bad it was," Hannibal admitted. "We do know that you somehow managed to escape from a powerful and very dangerous dictator named Vladimir Valisimo."

BA gasped next to Karina, alarming her.

"Who's that?" she asked, her heart starting to pound in dread.

"A man who specializes in selling people of all ages, genders, and races into slavery in the sex trade."

Karina gasped at the implication of that.

"Did he...was he going to..."

"Not from what we could tell. I got the distinct impression he wanted you for himself. At least for awhile. Who knows what would have happened once he'd had you."

All color left Karina's face and Murdock instinctively reached out to soothingly rub her shoulder. The tension in her back eased slightly, but her posture remained stiff.

"We saw him kill a man because he'd thought the man had killed you," Face put in and Murdock glared at him for revealing that when Karina started to visibly shake at the statement. "We need to keep him believing that you're dead."

"How-how are you going to do that?"

"We're going back to the place where Murdock found you , travel a mile or so in the opposite direction, and make it appear that you were taken by a hungry animal," Hannibal replied. "As long as he believes you're dead, and has solid evidence to that belief, you will be safe. But you'll have to stay with us for awhile, even after you're fully healed. Just until we can be absolutely certain that Valisimo isn't going to come after you."

Karina nodded, barely aware of the fact that Murdock hadn't removed his hand from her shoulder. It was surprsingly comforting, actually.

"I think-I think I'm gonna go lie down," Karina muttered as she slowly stood to her feet.

"Just a minute." Hannibal stood up as well. "If you don't mind, I'd like us to take a visit to the doctor, have him check you out-just for my own peace of mind-and let him know what's going on."

"Okay."

Hannibal placed his hand gently on the small of Karina's back and the two of them walked away, disappearing into the medical tent several seconds later.

Face turned to Murdock and BA once Hannibal and Karina were out of sight. "I like her. She's nice and spunky..."

BA shook his head in admonishment. "Fool, if you try to seduce her into your tent, I'll break your hands."

"Really?" BA's threat only amused Face. "You're already more than ready to defend her? Even from me?" He turned to address Murdock. "It only took Karina a single afternoon to win Bosco's affection. Can you believe that?"

Murdock snorted in amusement. "Hell, I've known him for years and I still haven't won his affection."

"Because you're the only one who really knows how to get on his bad side."

Murdock frowned slightly. "I don't know **how**. I just have a knack for it."

"Damn right you do, fool," BA muttered, causing the other two to laugh.

* * *

When Murdock strolled into his tent a half hour later, he froze when Karina sat up on the spare cot at his entrance. "Did I wake you up?" he asked self-consciously.

Karina shook her head as she stood to her feet. "I wasn't sleeping; just lying down." She started to move closer to him and Murdock panicked a little. Karina could see the insecurity in his eyes and stopped before she came too close to him. "I do want to thank you again for saving me."

Murdock had to struggle to keep his eyes locked with hers, no matter how beautiful and bright they were. "It's nothing no one else wouldn't have done."

"But they didn't. **You** were the one who found me." Ignoring Murdock's unease, Karina stepped forward and leaned up on her tip toes to press a chaste kiss to his stubbled cheek.

Murdock hoped his face wasn't as flaming red as it felt as Karina pulled back from him. He automatically raised his right hand to his cheek and tenderly caressed the skin where her lips had touched him.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough," she said, turning away from him to sit down on the cot once more.

"Well, I won't accept any more gratitude," Murdock said as he walked over to his own cot and sat down. "You're welcome and that's that and yes, I would do it again."

"Even knowing about Valisimo?"

Murdock's eyes darkened at the name. "Especially knowing about him." He shook his head to clear it of the dark thoughts that now clouded his mind. "How, um, how is your..." He pointed to her stomach.

Karina glanced down and gingerly fingered the wound beneath the T-shirt. Then, to Murdock's dismay, she lifted the shirt a couple of inches to pull back the bandage and inspect the still brightly red gunshot wound. She winced when her fingers lightly touched the wound and then pulled her hand away.

"I think I'll live," Karina muttered as she lowered the shirt, much to Murdock's relief. Seeing a woman's soft skin that was normally hidden beneath some sort of fabric always did a number on his libido and he didn't want Karina to get the impression that he was some sort of horny pervert; that was Face's speciality.

"That's good," Murdock replied lamely.

"Bosco told me that you guys are assassins-for-hire? Or something like that."

Murdock couldn't help but laugh at that assessment. "Assassins? Us four?" He giggled like a little girl and the sound easily set Karina at ease. "We're not assassins. Not really. Not unless we have to be."

"So you work for the government?"

Murdock stopped laughing. "We used to. Now we do kind of free-lance work."

"But you help people?"

"We try to."

The smile Karina flashed up at Murdock sent his pulse into overdrive. "I admire that. You have my respect and admiration, Murdock. And I don't care what you say. You'll always have my eternal gratitude."


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. I DON'T OWN THE A-TEAM OR THE ACTORS (ALL GORGEOUS) ASSOCIATED WITH THE MOVIE. I MAKE NO MONEY IN THE WRITING OF THIS.**

* * *

_"Strong is fighting. It's hard and it's painful and it's every day."_

__Night fell upon the camp rather quickly. Hannibal, Face, and BA had spent the better part of the afternoon and early evening making tracks in the forest of evidence that Karina had been taken by a wild bear or a panther. Karina had mostly spent the rest of the day napping and taking occasional visits to the medical tent. Hernandez had told her that she would be safe to shower the next morning, but it would be best if she had someone keeping guard outside for about a week in case she lapsed into unconsciousness from pain or any number of possible diseases to make she didn't drown or die when she didn't need to.

Karina chuckled humorlessly to herself. "Does anybody ever really **need **to die?" she mumbled as she stepped out of the medical tent and right into a hard male chest. She looked up and blushed at the fact that Murdock had caught her talking to herself.

"You talk to yourself too?" Murdock asked before Karina had a chance to be too embarrassed. He kept going on before Karina could respond. "I like to pretend that I'm with some of my favorite characters from my favorite movies sometimes. Some of 'em and I don't really get along so well, as it turns out, but it's still fun to have them around."

Karina laughed and felt surprised at the increase of her heart rate. "You're not like the others, are you?"

Murdock frowned slightly. "No. I'm legally classified as mentally unstable, but I'm not as crazy as all the reports would like you to believe. Other than a few mental issues and several medications I have to take on a daily basis, I'm just as normal as you, baby." He thumped his left fist against his right bicep, where Karina could just barely make out the bottom outline of a black tattoo. "I'm a Ranger, baby!"

"What exactly does that mean?"

Murdock sighed. "You'll learn over time." All seriousness left Murdock and he began to jump around on the balls of his feet. "You hungry?"

"I am. You cookin' up anything good?"

"Everything I cook is good!" Murdock grabbed her by the elbow and started gently dragging her to the tent they used as their mess hall. "Do you like secret sauce?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Um... That depends on your definition of 'secret sauce,'" Karina replied, a bit uneasily.

Murdock glanced over at her and he blushed at the implication hidden in her words. If he didn't know any better, he'd think he was talking to Face for a moment there. "Just a little concoction I made up myself."

"Don't do it," Face muttered as he fell in sudden line with them, startling both of them. "Murdock's secret sauce has a tendency to paralyze."

Eyes wide, Karina turned her attention back to Murdock.

"You're just a chicken, Face." Murdock bawked like a chicken for emphasis.

Face rolled his eyes towards Karina. "I don't know about you, but I like to be able to move about, especially at night." He winked at Karina and she instantly blushed.

Without thought, Murdock tugged Karina away from Face and closer to his own body. The fact that Face noticed this, as Murdock could tell when Face quirked his brow in amusement, only embarrassed Murdock and he reluctantly released his grip on Karina's elbow.

Karina reached down silently and began to rub her sore wrists, which of course wasn't due to Murdock's manhandling because he had only grabbed her elbow.

Face noticed this small action and his eyes fell to her wrists and narrowed. There were small red circular marks burned into Karina's skin on both wrists and Face knew it was from her arms having been bound to a chair of some sort. He wondered silently what the poor woman had gone through, but couldn't ask for two reasons: one, she couldn't remember and two, even if she did remember, he wouldn't want her to have to relive the nightmare that she'd gone through.

* * *

It was the best night's sleep of his life. At least of the last sixteen or so. Murdock was dreaming peacefully of rainbows and beautiful brunettes and there was not a single hellish inference in any of the images that flashed through his mind. He was at peace.

Until the screaming started and he bolted upright off of his cot. It wasn't his own screaming that awoke him, which was a first, but that of Karina. She was releasing many blood-curdling screams as she sobbed at an invisible attacker, her arms flailing out all about in self-defense.

Murdock ran over to her cot as she screamed 'No!' over and over again, begging her tormentor to release her. 'I'm a nobody,' she was saying. 'You don't want me.' Murdock placed his hands tentatively on her arms, but her struggles only increased.

Hannibal, Face, and BA rushed into the tent at that moment, their hair mussed from sleep and their faces creased with worry.

"I don't know what to do!" Murdock cried pitifully in a high-pitched voice. "What do I do, bossman?"

"I'll handle this," Face said as he dropped down on the ground next to Murdock. "I have to do this kind of stuff for Murdock all the time."

Karina screamed again and everyone but Face covered their ears at the shrill noise. (It wasn't nearly as bad as when Murdock was having dreams of the flight he'd crashed back in Vietnam, though.) Face gently pushed Karina down into the cot as he climbed on top of her and he gently yet firmly gripped her arms, holding her down with his weight to keep her from scratching at him as he leaned forward to whisper soothingly into her ear.

Murdock twisted his hands anxiously, his chest constricting with a myriad of different emotions. The foremost was concern that Karina wouldn't be able to recover from whatever torment she may have suffered and then there was some slight jealousy that he didn't know how to calm her down from a nightmare while she was under his care. Jealous that Face knew exactly what to do and had to do it in such an intimate way.

After several failed attempts, Karina's body finally stopped convulsing and she settled down as her eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing those dazed eyes alighted upon was Murdock standing off to the side, madly running his hands through his disheveled brown hair. Feeling weight upon her, she moved her head slightly to the right and found herself staring up into Face's shockingly blue eyes.

"You have gorgeous eyes," she muttered and everyone around her, save for Murdock, breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thank you," Face replied with a small laugh, brushing some damp hair from her forehead before he climbed off of her and stepped back onto the ground.

Karina sat up and rubbed at her weary eyes. "What happened?" she asked as she noticed that the men were all surrounding her.

"Nightmare," Murdock replied in a gruff, stiff tone. "You were unconsciously reliving some of whatever it was you went through."

"Did she say anything?" Hannibal directed the question at Murdock.

"Just things like, 'No! Get away!' Things like that."

Karina paled and inhaled a shaky breath.

Hannibal eyed her shrewdly. "Would you like me to get you anything? Do you need any medication?"

Karina shook her head. "No thanks. Although I don't really feel like going back to sleep right now. Do you guys have any sodas or anything?"

"I'll go grab you one," Murdock volunteered, still mildly upset about Karina's assessment of Face's 'gorgeous eyes.' "What do you prefer, milady?" He took on a British accent to clear his head. "Coke or Pepsi?"

"Coke."

Murdock mockingly saluted just before running out of the tent.

Face took a seat next to Karina on the cot and gently took her left hand into his. Karina was surprised by the warmth radiating out from his skin into hers and she didn't even try to pull her hand away. "I know you don't know us," Face began, subtly stroking the skin that separated her thumb from her index finger with the pad of his thumb, "and you have no reason to trust us-"

"You have no reason to trust me either," Karina pointed out and Face smiled comfortingly.

"But we do. And we will not let anyone or anything hurt you. You can believe that, can't you?"

"Of course I can."

BA and Hannibal exchanged looks, both grateful that Murdock wasn't here to witness this little act of intimacy. It was obvious that, from the outset, Murdock had been drawn to this woman and even if he didn't understand the feelings that coursed through him, Hannibal knew that Murdock had silently staked a claim on her and he would assume, with logical reasoning, that Face would be trying to get to her before him. In a manner of speaking.

"Good." Face smiled a genuine friendly smile, one devoid of any charming intentions to get her into bed, and he squeezed her hand just as Murdock walked back into the tent.

Murdock frowned at the close proximity of Face and Karina, but he quickly replaced it with a quirky grin as he handed Karina the soda she had requested.

"Thank you, Murdock." Karina gratefully accepted the proffered can of soda and when she did so, her fingers brushed over Murdock's, sending unexpected jolts through both of their bodies. She blushed and pulled her hand away.

Face released Kim's other hand, ignoring the heated glare Murdock sent him, brushed his hands along the boxer shorts he had pulled on in a hurry, and stood to his feet. "Well, if everything's all good here, I was right in the middle of a really hot and erotic dream, so..."

He was out of the tent before anyone could comment on his little statement.

"Yeah, I'm gonna head back to bed too," BA muttered, scratching at the back of his head as he followed Face's lead and left the tent.

Hannibal bent down, placing his hands on his knees, to stare intently into Karina's dilated blue eyes. "You gonna be okay, kid?"

Karina nodded and lifted the coke can to her lips, gulping down a quarter of it in one swallow.

"Okay." Hannibal straightened and angled his body towards the flap of the tent. "I'll see you in the morning."

Once Hannibal was gone, Karina turned to Murdock, who was trying hard not to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

Murdock looked up at her and when their eyes met, Karina's heart-which had just resumed its normal tempo-began to pound erratically. "It ain't a problem." He waved her off.

"Yes it is. Bosco told me that you stay up all night a lot."

Murdock furrowed his brow, his lips thinning into a straight line. "He did, huh? What else did he tell you?"

"He-he told me-"

"About the meds I have to take every day?" Murdock's voice had an angry undertone to it and Karina inched backwards a bit. "About my mental hallucinations? All the psych wards I got passed around when I was in the Army?"

"I'm sorry." Karina cowered away from him and Murdock instantly cursed himself.

Murdock sighed and ran a slightly shaky hand through his disheveled hair. "No. You have nothing to apologize for. I just- I ain't good with women!"

Karina was startled at Murdock's outburst, but, just the same, tentatively reached out to gently stroke her fingers over the knuckles of his left hand. Murdock's pulse jumped and he gulped nervously, but miraculously he managed not to pull his hand away out of sheer instinct. Instead, he entwined their fingers and held their hands together intimately.

"You don't have to be good with women," Karina said softly. "I don't really know how you're supposed to be 'good with women' anyway. We're just like men, except for certain body parts. And some women tend to be bitchier and more dramatic than others. But otherwise we're basically the same."

Murdock smiled and subconsciously began to caress her skin with the pad of his thumb.

"Besides, I don't care about all that. You're a good, kind man and you took me here into your tent, under your protection, and that's all that really matters." Karina took another sip of her soda and Murdock couldn't help but notice that she hadn't removed her hand from his.

"So..." Karina glanced around, trying not to focus on the fact that she and Murdock were holding hands like a couple of teenagers just starting to date. "What is there to do around here at night when you can't sleep?"

Murdock was shamed to realize that the first thought that popped into his head wasn't exactly...pure or clean in any way. He felt his cheeks redden and he immediately turned his head left and right trying to dispel the blush.

Karina smiled softly at Murdock's reaction, but didn't comment. She wondered if he had any clue as to how adorably sexy he was. "Do you have any games or anything?"

Murdock's gaze flew back to Karina and his eyes drifted down to her lips when she licked them. He quickly averted his eyes back to hers. "I have some cards around here somewhere, I think."

"I like your accent," Karina murmured suddenly. "A man with a southern drawl... It's really very sexy."

Murdock blushed and reluctantly pulled his hand from hers to stand to his feet. If he had known that Karina's eyes were drawn to his butt as he walked over to his dresser to grab the deck of cards he kept for Friday night poker games, he'd have gone as red as a lobster.


	7. Chapter 7

**This next chapter is really just a bunch of fluff. Murdock and Karina getting to know each other and all that. I'm sorry for anything that doesn't make sense or is boring...**

**Disclaimer: As usual, I receive nothing from the writing of this story and own nothing to do with the A-Team.**

* * *

_"You may have noticed I'm not all there myself."_

"How do you do that?" Karina asked Murdock as he pulled a particular shuffling move that she herself had never been able to perfect, no matter how much she had tried.

"You can't do this? It ain't that difficult."

Karina rolled her eyes. "It's not difficult to you because you can do it. Everyone who says 'it's not hard' says that because they can do it. If the people asking to do it could do it, of course it wouldn't be difficult and therefore they wouldn't have needed to ask the question in the first place."

Murdock stared at Karina, mouth slightly agape in surprise. After a minute he said, "You have a good point."

"Of course I do. I always do." Karina's eyes darted from side-to-side. "I think, anyway."

"What's your poison?" Murdock asked, continuing to shuffle the cards.

Karina shrugged. "Whatever you want to play so long as I know how to play and you don't have to explain anything to me."

Murdock chuckled and began to deal out the cards for a game of five-card draw.

"We should make the game interesting," Karina suggested, drinking down the last dregs of her soda.

Murdock quirked his left brow into the air. "You mean like strip poker?"

"No. At least not tonight. Don't know you well enough." She winked at him playfully and Murdock blushed.

Dirty thoughts immediately began to infiltrate Murdock's mind and he missed the next few sentences out of Karina's mouth. Embarrassed, he asked her to repeat herself.

"I was just going to say whenever we lose a hand, we should reveal something about ourselves." There was amusement dancing in her pretty blue eyes and Murdock found he couldn't look away.

"But...don't you have amnesia?"

"Well, I'll share whatever I can remember. Which is probably only up until last year or something. My memory was never that great to begin with and now this." Karina dramatically huffed out a breath of annoyance, making Murdock laugh.

"I'm sure you exaggerate."

"I wish I was. I'm not a great exaggerator and my terrible memory is not one of the things I would exaggerate." Karina scooted closer to the small table that sat at the end of Murdock's cot and pulled up her hand of cards. Her eyes ran over the individual cards and she grinned.

"You know, I can already tell that you don't have a great poker face," Murdock murmured with a small quirky grin.

"Oh; sorry." Karina forced the smile away and slid two cards forward to Murdock, the dealer. "I'll take two cards."

Murdock took the two cards she'd discarded, removed one card from the top of the deck to set it off to the side, and dealt Karina two more cards. Murdock then glanced at his own hand and opted not to change any out.

"All right." Murdock glanced up into Karina's eyes. "The ante is one embarrassing childhood story. The bet is...revealing a secret fantasy."

"A secret fantasy? You don't even know me and you want to hear about my fantasies?"

Murdock lifted his left eyebrow into the air once more. "This is a poker game, baby. If we ain't gonna play for clothes or money, we gotta be creative."

"All right. I call. You go first with the ante."

"No, no. I'm a gentleman. Ladies first."

"Fine." Karina tapped her fingers against the bottom of her chin thoughtfully. "When I was about...fourteen, I think, my family and I were coming back from kneeboarding..."

Murdock's eyes lit up. "Oh, I love kneeboarding! It's just the kicks, ain't it?"

Kim smiled at Murdock's enthusiasm. "Definitely. Well, on the way back, we stopped off at a Sonic to get some lunch. We were all still in our bathing suits and everything. Well, I still don't know why it was in there, but I found an old...50s beehive wig that belonged to my grandmother, so I decided to put it on."

"Oh god; in public?"

"Yes, and that's not the worst part. As I walking to the bathroom to go, you know, check myself out-"

Murdock grinned affectionately.

"-I, for some reason or other, decided to turn and smile or wink or...something at my family. Thus I didn't exactly see the ordering sign in front of me and..."

"You ran into it?"

Karina nodded wordlessly and hung her head.

Murdock couldn't help laughing loudly. "You ran into a Sonic sign...wearing a beehive wig that belonged to your grandmother." He laughed again. "That's beautiful, baby."

Karina scowled playfully. "All right, all right. What about you? What's something embarrassing that happened to **you** as a child? Or even as an adult."

"Nah, the adult stories come later." He waggled his eyebrows at her and was pleased at the blush that spread into her cheeks. "But there was this one time, I was about nine or ten years old, and I had a crush on this girl in my class. My best friend liked her too, but he didn't tell me. One day-I think it was about two days before Valentine's Day-he told me he was gonna go talk to her for me. Gonna find out what kinda candy she liked and all that."

"Uh-oh; I think I kind of see where this is going."

"He came back and told me she loved anything with nuts and her favorite cartoon character was Betty Boop. Well, Valentine's Day rolled around and I showed up at school with... I think I should interrupt myself for a moment. See, I'm a little... I don't do things the way normal boys would. Never have, never will."

"Makes you special and makes things much more interesting."

Murdock grinned charmingly at her, unaware of the effect it had on her, and continued on. "So I showed up bearing the chocolates and wearing a ton of Betty Boop souvenirs that I was going to give her, including some underwear that I wore on the outside of my shorts."

"Oh no."

"The girl pointed me out straightaway and then told me she hated Betty Boop more than anyone else in the world. And then it got worse when I gave her the candy."

"You still gave her the candy even though she made fun of you and humiliated you?"

Murdock shrugged nonchalantly. "What can I say? I was a young boy besotted by love."

Karina silently wondered what Murdock would look like or do as a **man** besotted by love.

"How did it get worse when you gave her the candy?"

"She was allergic to peanuts. Had to be taken to the hospital."

"Wow. What happened to your 'best friend?'"

"He moved away. Never spoke to him again. Now, let's see your hand."

Karina mockingly waved her left hand through the air.

"Your card hand, silly goose."

Laughing, Karina laid her hand down on the table, revealing a pair of Jacks and a pair of twos.

"Nice," Murdock commented. "But not as nice as a Full House." Murdock spread his cards out on the table, revealing two Kings and three fives.

"Damn," Karina cursed.

Murdock smirked and leaned forward on the table. "Now, fantasy time."

Karina grinned and shook some wayward hair out of her eyes. "Okay. I've always wanted-" She paused emphatically and Murdock waited with bated breath. "-to learn how to play the piano," she finished, laughing at the stupefied expression on his face.

Instead of being disappointed by her answer, however, he leaned forward eagerly. "Really?"

"Yeah. My grandmother has a nice old piano in Louisiana, that I must admit I hope to inherit one day, but all I ever learned to play was 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.'"

"There's nothing wrong with that. That's a classic."

The smile that Karina gave him nearly sent Murdock over the edge in the sense that he was having trouble restraining himself from leaning forward to kiss her. It had been a long time since he had kissed anyone, man or woman. (Although with the men he never truly enjoyed it and never really put any of himself into it. He wasn't gay, but sometimes he had to pretend to be for the sake of the team. Why not Face? Who the hell knew.)

Karina gathered up the cards, unaware of the mental dilemma traveling through Murdock's brain at that very moment, and began to shuffle them. "Same stakes?" she asked once she'd started dealing out the cards.

"Let's change it up a little. The ante is naming a favorite toy and the bet will be revealing something dirty you've done that you'd be ashamed to admit to."

Heat spread into Karina's cheeks and Murdock was surprised he didn't feel the same at his blatant suggestion. "Dirty like...sex-wise?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to involve sex, but if that's what comes to mind... Besides, you won't have to worry about it if you get a better hand than I do.

"My favorite toy was the Etch-A-Sketch," Murdock said. "I loved drawing whatever I wanted, however I wanted. Made me feel like a real artist even though I can't draw worth a damn."

"I don't know what my favorite toy was. I really loved my Giga pets, though, and my Stretch Armstrong."

"I had a Stretch Armstrong. I loved that toy. But what's a giga pet?"

"It was an electronic animal that I carried around on a chain."

"Oh yeah. I remember those. Course, I was too old by normal standards to have one of those. Didn't stop me from putting my name on a waiting list, though."

"Did you never get it?"

"No. I was enlisted in the army by the time they were available. I was very upset."

"Well, I have three at home, wherever that is. If I ever get back there, you're welcome to one of them."

An emotion Murdock couldn't identify shot through him and his eyes briefly darted down to her full plump lips. "That's very kind of you."

Heart pounding from the expression on Murdock's face as he stared at her, Karina nervously picked up her cards and glanced down. She twisted her lips and bit down into her bottom lip as she studied them. Across from her, Murdock slid four cards towards her, holding up the Ace he held.

Karina passed him his four cards and then took three for herself. She examined them studiously and then looked up at Murdock. "What do you have?"

Murdock huffed and laid down his hand. "Ace high."

Karina laughed at the sullen expression on his face and he scowled in response. "That's almost as bad as my pair of twos, but not quite." She slammed her cards on the table emphatically.

Murdock cursed and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Let's see; something dirty... Oh! I once-" Murdock paused and leaned forward, lowering his voice slightly. "I must swear you to secrecy because Face would kill me if he ever found this out."

"Ooh, dirt! I promise."

"Well, one time I borrowed Face's boxers-his favorite pair, actually; 'his lucky draws,' he likes to say-and I, uh, I might have, uh, you know, enjoyed the feeling of them a bit too much." He flushed and stared down at the ground in mortification.

Karina's brows furrowed in confusion. "You enjoyed them too..." Her eyes widened comically. "You mean you came in his boxers?!"

Murdock shifted awkwardly. Why was he revealing this particular information to her again? It certainly wouldn't make him look admirable in her eyes. "Well... It was **his** fault! He had the girl-on-girl porn playing in the background and it's not like I didn't wash them afterwards!"

Karina leaned back and started laughing. "Wow. That is really bad."

"Yeah, well... I learned my lesson. I'm never going to borrow any of his things again. I felt so bad about it I made his favorite dinners for two weeks. He knew something was up, but never asked."

"If he knew what you were hiding, I'm sure he'd be glad he never knew."

They played a few more hands of poker, learning a bit more about each other with each passing second, and then switched to some other interactive games that Murdock kept lying about the tent, playing until the first rays of dawn crept beneath the flaps of the tent.

* * *

**That whole little Murdock boxer incident, sorry about it. I couldn't really come up with any other dirty secrets off the top of my head for him, so that's what I ended up with. If it disgusts some of you or offends, I sincerely apologize.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own the A-Team. Duh.**

* * *

_"Better to get up and dance badly than to sit and watch the dancing."_

Murdock, surprisingly, slept in later than he usually did. He'd generally stay up for days at a time, but somehow, after spending the evening before laughing and chatting with Karina, he'd been able to get a restful night's sleep. If for nothing else, Murdock certainly owed her for that. It was definitely the best sleep he'd ever had, even if his dreams had been filled with the laughing blue eyes of a beautiful, light-skinned brunnette.

"Dude, did you fuck the girl or something?" Face asked the minute Murdock stepped out of his tent lugging a fresh set of clothes to take with him to the shower. The glare Murdock sent him in response was enough to have the conman stepping back with his hands held up in the air. "The only reason I ask that is because you never sleep in, even when you've been up all night."

"And you think only sex could cause me to sleep in?" Murdock asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well, no, but it's the best reason I could think of."

Rolling his eyes, Murdock headed off for the showers. "If Karina wakes up and asks for me, tell her I'll be back soon."

Face agreed and quirked his brow into the air as he watched Murdock walk away. Why would Karina ask for him? She barely knew him. And besides that, **Face** was the seducer of the team. Shouldn't she be wanting **him**, not Murdock? Not that Murdock wasn't an attractive man, but...

'Why am I getting in such a huff about this?' Face thought to himself as he walked away from Murdock's tent. 'Murdock deserves to be happy. If he can find that with Karina, all the better for him.

'But why couldn't **I** have been the one to rescue a damsel way out here in butt fuck Egypt?'

* * *

Karina stepped out of the tent she shared with Murdock and stretched her arms high above her head. She was still dressed in one of the oversized shirts Face had lent her to sleep in as Murdock, who rarely slept with a shirt no matter the circumstances or temperatures, hadn't had any to loan her.

Hannibal approached Karina with an unopened bottle of orange juice and held it out to her. Karina took it gratefully, thanked him, and uncapped the bottle to swallow down some pain medication she'd kept in her right front pocket of her jeans, which lay haphazardly now on the floor of Murdock's tent.

"You feeling any better today?" Hannibal asked as he walked in step with her over to the 'dining area.'

"My stomach is still sore, if that's what you mean. If you're wondering if I remember anything from the night I was shot... No. I'm sorry, but I don't."

Hannibal nodded; he hadn't been expecting anything less. "Has the doctor seen you today?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure I know what he'll say. 'You're healing quite well, but do try to stay off your side as much as possible.'" As she mimicked the doctor, she'd attempted taking on his accent as well and only sounded like a frightened British mouse.

Hannibal laughed in amusement as Murdock and Face joined them.

"What's funny?" Face asked, glancing from Karina to Hannibal and back. "God, you look hot in my shirt." His eyes zeroed in on her bare legs and he silently wondered what she was wearing beneath the shirt, if anything.

Eyes narrowing, Murdock subtly elbowed Face in the stomach, causing the other man to stumble. Face didn't comment on it, but he did glare angrily at the pilot.

"Nothing," Hannibal replied, his lips still quirked up in a big smile. "You up for fixing some breakfast, Murdock?"

Murdock slammed his feet together and saluted. "Always, sir, always! What would you like, sir?"

"My usual, Murdock. Always my usual."

Murdock turned to Karina. "And you?"

"Uh...eggs?"

"How do you like your eggs?"

"Uh, many ways. Scrambled, poached, sunny-side up. But if you make 'em, uh, **not** scrambled, I do like them a bit runny."

Murdock smiled. "Runny's the best." He reluctantly turned to Face. "And you?"

"Sausage-the link, not the patty-scrambled eggs, and bacon."

Murdock nodded and strolled away.

"Do you always eat like that?" Karina asked Face conversationally.

"Yeah. Why?"

Her eyes trailed over his naked torso. "How can you possibly keep in shape then?"

Face laughed. "Work out every day. You wanna watch me?"

"If I can't find anything else to keep me occupied," Karina replied with a small half-smile before turning to Hannibal. "Where are the showers? I feel nasty and gritty and I need to shave..."

The last statement instantly drew Face's eyes down to her legs once more. "They don't look hairy to me."

Karina blushed at Face's perusal. "Well, they are."

"Doesn't someone need to be with you?" Hannibal inquired and both Karina and Face appeared surprised at his question.

"Boss, I never expected **you** to make a pass at Karina," Face muttered and Hannibal scowled in annoyance at him.

"I'm not hitting on her, you buffoon. But I did hear the doctor say that she couldn't shower alone. Or, well, she shouldn't shower alone."

Face's grin lip up his whole face like a child at Christmas. "Well, it'll be the toughest assignment I've ever had, but I volunteer to stand guard for her."

Hannibal quirked his brow into the air. "Uh-huh. And how do I know that's **all** you'll be doing?"

"Come on, Hannibal, I'm not going to try to seduce her. Not yet, anyway." Face winked at Karina and she blushed automatically. "I'll just stand outside the shower." His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Why does she need to be monitored anyway?"

"In case she accidentally opens the wound or something. We don't want her to bleed to death. Or pass out and then drown."

Face nodded in understanding. "I'll keep a stern eye on her, sir."

"You don't actually need to stare at me while I'm showering," Karina muttered, trying to shield her already-covered body from Face's curious eyes.

"It won't bother me," Face insisted.

Karina rolled her eyes with a smile. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Why don't you wait until after breakfast?" Hannibal suggested. "If there's anyone I can trust not to peek in at you, it's Murdock."

"Hey!" Face protested loudly, though he knew logically that Hannibal had a point.

"Is Murdock gay?" Karina asked innocently, causing the others' eyes to widen. "I think that would be the only true guaranteed way that no man would peek."

Face and Hannibal laughed in unison.

"Well, as far as we know, Murdock is **not** gay," Hannibal said.

"Though I don't think I've ever actually seen him with a woman," Face murmured thoughtfully.

Hannibal rolled his eyes. "That doesn't mean he's gay, Lieutenant. Just means he isn't as open or obvious about it. He doesn't brag about his liaisons the instant he rolls out of a woman's bed, unlike **some** men around here."

Face flushed and glanced over at Karina, who didn't appear too happy at the thought of Murdock having liaisons. He quirked his brow thoughtfully at her and she immediately turned away from him.

Face chuckled and then gently grabbed her by the elbow to propel her towards the mess hall tent. They settled in next to each other at the table as they awaited Murdock's delicious food.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay with doing this?" Karina asked Murdock as they stood outside the small shower that had been designed just outside the lavatory, covered only by a thin white curtain and a small metal roof.

Murdock scratched the back of his neck nervously and hoped he didn't look as flustered as he felt. "Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't want to have saved your life and only a day later lose you to drowning."

Karina nodded gratefully and slipped into the shower. Murdock immediately turned his back and grit his teeth when he heard the rustle of cloth behind him as Karina removed the clothes she wore. Murdock mentally warned himself not to imagine what she looked like naked or to picture each bit of flesh as it was exposed as he heard several articles of clothing fall to the shower floor.

It wasn't working. It wasn't working at all.

"Hey, Murdock?"

Murdock jumped at the sound of Karina's voice and he turned his head slightly to the left to look at her. Her head was leaning out of the curtain, but it remained snugly secured around the rest of her body.

"Can you put these on the ground for me?" She held her clothes out to him. "I don't really want to walk around in wet clothes all day."

Murdock gulped and accepted the clothes without a word. As Karina slithered back behind the curtain, Murdock gently set her clothes on the opposite side of the shower, folding them neatly into little piles, not dwelling or focusing too much on the fact that he was touching and handling her bra and panties.

Stationing himself back into place outside the shower, Murdock released a heavy breath and began to sing, hoping to alleviate the images he had in his head of Karina washing her naked body from his mind.

After almost five minutes, a strange sensation washed over Murdock, causing him to cease singing and to enhance his listening skills. He could still hear the water running, but he couldn't hear Karina moving around anymore; he frowned. "Karina?"

Getting no response, Murdock carefully and discreetly peered through the thin shower curtain, determined to quickly step away as soon as he saw that she was all right. Unfortunately, his eyes didn't fall upon her standing beneath the spray of the shower. Instead, they widened at the sight of her seizing violently in the very corner of the stall.

"Shit," Murdock cursed as he rushed into the stall to shut off the water, ignoring the fact that his own clothes were now soaked to the skin. He fell to his knees and pulled her into his arms, hoping to still the convulsions as best as he could.

"Karina? Come on, baby, come out of it." Murdock stroked some damp hair out of Karina's face as he spoke softly into her ear.

Karina's body slackened and she slumped against Murdock's chest, eyes still closed and breathing still labored.

Murdock released a heavy breath of relief and gently settled her head onto his lap so he could remove his shirt and he immediately placed it over her trembling, naked body. He smoothed his fingers through her wet hair as he rocked her back and forth, finally giving in and calling out for Hannibal.

Hannibal arrived less than two minutes later to see Murdock cradling Karina in his arms in the shower stall; she was still unconscious and still very much naked. "What's going on here, Captain?" Hannibal asked in a tone full of worry.

"She was having a seizure, sir," Murdock replied as he looked up at Hannibal. "I guess she's an epileptic."

Groaning, Hannibal ran a weary hand down his tired face. "Great. Just what we need," he muttered just as he was joined by Face.

"What's wrong?" Face asked in concern, briefly and mentally acknowledging the fact that Murdock was holding a naked, unconscious woman.

"Apparently Karina had a seizure," Hannibal answered. "Thank god we thought to have Murdock standing outside the stall or she might have drowned." He turned to Murdock, who was continously trying to use his own shirt to cover as much of Karina's body as he could. "Let's get her to the medical tent. Murdock, where are her clothes?"

Murdock pointed in front of him. "Outside the stall."

Hannibal looked down and then bent down to grab the pile of clothes that lay on the ground. He joined Murdock in the shower and handed him Karina's clothes. Then he shut the shower curtain and helped Murdock get her back into her clothes.


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: OWN NOTHING. RECEIVE NO MONETARY VALUE FROM THE WRITING OF THIS STORY.**

* * *

_"Life's tough; get a helmet."_

Karina blew out a deep breath of aggravation while everyone made a big fuss over her as she lay uncomfortably on a gurney in the medical tent. "It's no big deal," she insisted to Murdock, who refused to leave her side. Like a loyal dog.

"It **is** a big fuckin' deal!" Murdock replied, angry at her lack of concern for herself. "You could have died, Karina, if I hadn't been there!"

Karina groaned and threw her head back. "You're making too much of this, Murdock. So I had a seizure. It's not like it was the first one I've ever had. And I haven't even had one in years, so..."

"Because you're not taking your medication," Face grumbled from next to Murdock. "And now you're on new medication, which probably isn't doing anything good for you."

"Calm down, both of you!" Hannibal ordered Face and Murdock before he turned to Karina. "Karina, do you have any idea as to when the last time you took your medication was? Any guess at all?"

"Before Valisimo's men kidnapped me. That same morning, in my hotel room," Karina replied with barely a pause, taking all the others by surprise.

"You can remember that?" Face asked, eyes wide.

Face's inquiry took Karina herself aback and her own eyes widened. "Yeah. Wow; I can remember it all. I guess that seizure knocked my memories back into me. Some good came from that seizure after all." She laughed humorlessly, but none of the others joined her.

"I'm glad you find this so damn funny," Murdock grumbled in a low, dangerous voice just before he stormed angrily out of the tent.

Karina glanced over at Face, who had watched the pilot with concern flashing in his hazy blue eyes. "What was that about?" she asked.

"I don't know," Face replied honestly, turning his attention back to her. "With Murdock, sometimes it's hard to tell. I guess he's really sensitive about mental conditions or something."

Karina glared heatedly at Face. "I do **not** have any mental conditions," she growled out.

"No, that's not what I..." Face sighed and headed for the flap of the tent. "I'm gonna go check on Murdock."

* * *

Face found Murdock sitting at one of the portable picnic tables, glaring angrily down at the ground as he forcefully clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. Face took a seat next to him and cleared his throat.

"What are you more upset about, Murdock?" Face began. "The fact that Karina isn't taking this seizure very seriously or the fact that she remembers whatever it is she endured while she was Valisimo's prisoner?"

"You know me too well, Faceman," Murdock replied, but he didn't bother directly answering the man's question.

"She's gonna be fine, you know."

Murdock remained silent.

Sighing, Face stood to his feet. "You know where to find me, bud, if you need someone to talk to."

Face had only taken half a step forward when Murdock spoke up.

"What if she went through the same shit I went through when I was captured in Danang?"

Face spun around to face Murdock, who continued to stare morosely at the ground in front of him. "Is that what you're worried about?" Face asked softly as he retook his seat back at Murdock's side.

Murdock nodded wordlessly.

Face sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I doubt Valisimo is creative enough to do half the things those fucking bastards in Vietnam did to you."

Nostrils flaring at the thought, the images, of Karina undergoing the same tortures he'd gone through- murder, plain and simple, flashed through Murdock's mind. Although he had absolutely no intention of making Valisimo's murder anything close to resembling 'simple.'

"They did something to her, though. Something awful that made her scream in the middle of the night."

"Ask her; she said she remembers."

"I don't want her reliving all that shit."

"Murdock, man, you know better than anyone that **not** talking about something doesn't cease a person from reliving a nightmare. It just means you're bottling things up that shouldn't be bottled up. Not completely."

Murdock sighed and ran a weary hand down his face. "I just-I hate the thought of her hurt."

Face stared knowingly at his best friend. "You really like her, don't you?"

Murdock blushed and didn't respond, but that was all the confirmation Face needed.

"It's only been two days, bud."

"You think I don't know that, Face?" Murdock looked up and his eyes locked with Face's. "It only takes **you** a half hour to fall in love, Facey."

"Hey! That's just..." Face's eyes narrowed. "Do you think you're in love with her, Murdock? After **two** days? I mean, she's beautiful and has a great personality and all, but it usually takes a bit longer..."

Murdock snorted in amusement. "Again, this coming from a man who 'falls in love ' every six minutes? At least when a woman is actually around, anyway. And I never said I'm in love with her." He glanced shyly down at the ground. "I know it'd be too soon for anything like that."

Jaw grit, Murdock abruptly turned his gaze to the trees across from him. "I just want to make sure she makes it out of here safely, that's all. No agenda, no ulterior motives. I ain't that way."

"I know that, bud, I know."

* * *

Karina stepped out of the medical tent not even a half hour after she'd been brought in. She blinked at the harsh light of day as she walked self-consciously into the sunlight. When her eyes fell upon Murdock as he and Face approached her, she blushed. He had seen her naked after all.

"How are you feeling?" Face asked, not noticing the sudden tension between her and Murdock.

"Fine," Karina replied, a bit too stiffly for Face's liking.

"Hey, no need to snap," Face grumbled. "Just concerned is all."

Karina sighed and relaxed her stiff shoulders. "I didn't mean to snap. I just get really annoyed when people don't let things go after I say that **I'm okay**." She spoke the last two words very slowly so that the two men would get it.

"Yeah, no shit," Face couldn't help shooting back, but with a fond smile on his face.

"You better learn to stay on my good side," Karina muttered with a smile of her own.

Face playfully trailed his eyes over her body, both front and back, right and left. "All sides look good to me," he mumbled with a teasing glint in his blue eyes.

Murdock quickly interrupted them, wanting to dispel the sudden images of Karina's gorgeous naked body from his mind. "Is the doctor going to put you on any medication for the epilepsy?" he asked her, immediately causing her smile to fade.

"No." Karina didn't sound at all pleased with Murdock's inquiry. "But he does intend to keep a 'strict eye' on me, especially while I'm still taking the pain medication for the shot."

"Good," Murdock replied and then he promptly refused to speak anything more.

* * *

Murdock stared straight up at the roof of the tent that night, hands folded and intertwined over his chest as he breathed heavily. He desperately wished he had a moonroof so he could admire the beauty of the stars and empty his mind of the images of a wet naked Karina lying in his arms. He'd ignored it at the time, too worried about her health to think of anything else, but now- Now all he could see was soft bare skin sparkling with small droplets of water; round curved breasts with erect pink nipples just begging to be suckled; long curvaceous legs that led up to a smooth mound that hid all her feminine secrets. Thank god Hannibal had been there to keep him grounded and to keep him from having his own personal meltdown as well as keeping Face out of the stall. He'd have been subtle about it, but Face would have definitely taken the opporutinity to check out Karina's assets.

Glancing beneath the thin blanket that covered him from the waist down, Murdock groaned silently to himself. With all the medication he took on a daily basis, Murdock just naturally assumed he would never be able to...rise to the occasion, as it were, whether he was going to have sex or not. (Of course, this assumption never had any real backing as there was never any reason to get himself up. Whenever they were around women, none of them ever paid him any mind. They all flocked to the other three while he slunk off to some dark corner to observe the others with a slightly envious eye as he sipped on an ice cold bottle of beer.)

He was undeniably hard now, so apparently his medication had no effect (total effect, anyway) over his libido. Only his mind did. No matter how hard he tried, he could not banish the memories of Karina naked in his arms from his mind. How in the hell was he supposed to? The last time he'd held a naked woman had been... Fuck! Almost five years ago. And that one had only occured with Face's assistance.

Agitated, Murdock flipped over onto his side, hoping that ignoring his 'little problem' would alleviate the throbbing pressure in his shorts. But the minute his eyes fell on the sleeping woman across the tent, he swore the little captain swelled even more. Murdock groaned and reluctantly lowered his left hand to his groin to ease a little of the excruciating pleasure/pain. His entire body jerked at the forgotten pleasure that came from touching himself and Murdock had to forcefully pull his hand away. It wasn't polite to masturbate with a lady in the room.

So, coming to a quick and quiet decision, Murdock leapt from the cot and left the tent.

* * *

**Just gotta say, can't help putting a little smut in. This wasn't actually smut, of course, but there will be some later in the story. Just a little FYI. Come on. Sharlto Copley is hot. Ya need a little smut now and then.**


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: STILL OWN NOTHING**

* * *

_"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine."_

The weeks slowly began to slip by as Karina grew stronger every day. After about four days, she'd no longer needed the pain medication for the gunshot wound, which had miraculously closed up and was in no danger of spreading infection to the rest of her body. Hernandez had also managed to get ahold of some of the prescription medicine that Karina had to take for her epilepsy and now that she was back on the medication, no one had to stand watch outside the shower stall anymore when she showered. (Murdock could tell Face still wanted to do so, but only teasingly. At least it had better be teasingly.)

"She's pretty well recovered," Hannibal was saying to Murdock one night as the two of them sat out beneath the bright starry night sky, keeping watch for the camp that week as it was their turn in the pot.

"Yep," Murdock replied emotionlessly, not even bothering to pretend he didn't know where his boss was going with this.

"She'll be able to go home soon."

"Uh-huh."

Hannibal glanced over at his third-in-command in concern. "She doesn't belong out here, Murdock."

"I know that, sir."

"And she certainly doesn't belong in the middle of warfare."

"No, sir."

Hannibal's eyes drifted over Murdock's prone form where he lay beside him on the picnic table they'd set up. "Did she ever tell you what she was doing out here in the first place? Did they take her from her home? Was she on a safari tour and then got snatched from her group?"

"I haven't asked her," Murdock admitted. "I really don't want to know."

Hannibal sighed as he reached into his front pocket for a cigar. "We need to know, Murdock. We have to know if there's any risk of Valisimo going after her once we've released her from our protection."

Murdock's hand subtly tightened into a fist. "Why would he? He thinks she's dead."

"For the moment, yes. But what if he wasn't just after her, but her family in general? And what if he decides that-since he failed with this particular family member, this woman-he'll go back for another one? And then he discovers that she's **not** dead and he takes her again? We'll be none the wiser and God only knows what could happen to her then."

Murdock's heart thundered painfully beneath his ribcage. "That ain't gonna happen."

"How do you know that, Murdock, without knowing **how** she got into this situation in the first place? You need to talk to her."

Murdock furrowed his brow. "Why me?"

"You spend the most time with her. You eat breakfast together, you hang out together, you sleep together..."

Deep heat spread into Murdock's pale cheeks. "We do **not** sleep together!"

Hannibal couldn't help chuckling at Murdock's reaction. "What I mean, Captain, is that you share the same tent."

Murdock flushed in embarrassment. "Oh."

"And I believe she trusts you above all the rest of us. After all, you found her. You saved her life. You've been the one taking care of her."

"With all due respect, sir, I don't really think she needs taking care of anymore."

"No. Not physically, anyway. But she does need to talk about whatever ordeal she's undergone. Otherwise, in a few years' time, she may become..."

"Like me?"

Hannibal remained silent.

Murdock sighed and sat up, rubbing his hands over his jeans just as Karina joined them at the table. She looked as gorgeous as ever beneath the pale moonlight-it was a full moon tonight, Murdock noticed-and her clothes, as per usual, were clinging to that voluptous body of hers. He gulped nervously at the sight and turned his gaze away from her.

"What are you doing out here, Karina?" Hannibal asked conversationally as he lit up his cigar, puffed a heavy breath, and then blew it out.

Karina shrugged nonchalantly. "Looking for something to do? It's unbelievable how little there is to do in the forest."

Hannibal chuckled and flicked some ash onto the ground. "Actually, I was just telling Murdock here that you and he need to have a little talk."

Murdock's eyes widened and he turned to glare at his CO.

Karina glanced briefly at Murdock. "About what?"

Hannibal stood to his feet. "Karina, I know you don't want to hear this, but we need to know what happened when you were with Valisimo and why you were with him in the first place. I know it's not something you want to do..."

"It's something I need to do," Karina finished for him, surprising both Murdock and Hannibal. "I've gotta be honest: I was wondering when you were going to ask me about it." She eyed Hannibal curiously. "You don't want to know the story?"

"I do; I just figured it'd be easier for you to relate the story to Murdock."

"I feel comfortable telling you too." Karina sighed and took a seat in the gap between the two men. She took a long deep breath and then started from the beginning.

* * *

_Something wasn't right. Karina had sensed it the minute she'd stepped foot outside of her hotel room. This was the first time in all her 26 years that she'd taken a vacation by herself, with her own money, and rented her own car with said money. She'd never been so excited before. It was her first visit to Martha's Vineyard and she'd gotten to walk the same streets that Roy Scheider had walked in one of her favorite movies, seen the areas where the movie had been filmed-the water, the buildings, everything. (Although Karina did have to admit that she felt a bit lonely on this trip, what with being in a strange place all by herself and all. She had been hoping to get the man she'd been crushing on lately to come with her, but his circumstances-i.e. relationship status-had changed.)_

_This was her last day here in Massachusetts. She had to wake up at three in the morning to catch her flight back to Florida at six. The hotel, though beautiful, was starting to give her the creeps. It was a bed and breakfast, the room was large and gorgeous with a separate kitchenette, but spending four nights alone didn't exactly make one feel comfortable or at home. Especially a young woman who was out on her own._

_Maybe it was her neighbors, whom she hadn't seen once until just five minutes ago. They'd either spent most of __**her**__ time at the hotel holed up in their room or they were out in town somewhere. But the minute they had stepped out of their room at the same time she did, a dreadful feeling of foreboding washed over her. Not because they were dark-skinned men dressed in ratty T-shirts and holy jeans, but because of the way their dark, kohl-lined eyes bore into her. There was something evil in those eyes. Karina had never seen evil outside of TV and movies, but she could definitely identify it. And she instinctively knew that she needed to get away from these men as fast and as soon as possible._

_She'd only gone five feet outside of the building that housed her room when she felt a pair of burly arms wrap roughly and forcefully around her waist from behind. Karina opened her mouth to scream, her body having gone limp before she could even think of fighting back, but a nasty sweaty hand quickly clamped over her mouth before she could make even a peep. She squirmed as she was hauled away beneath smelly, unwashed arms and she felt her stomach churn with nausea. These things, kidnappings, didn't happen in places like this! They happened in tropical paradises or middle-of-the-nowhere places and certainly not to women like her!_

_Except they did happen to women like her, Karina begrudgingly realized as a ball gag was shoved into her mouth just before she was tossed haphazardly into the back of a hatchback vehicle. Kidnappings were more likely to happen to women who were alone; women who were distracted; women who weren't expecting anything like this to happen to __**them**__. And now Karina could be added to that list of kidnapping statistics. If anybody ever realized she was missing, anyway._

_Wherever they were going, the driver certainly didn't know how to drive. Every curve they took was taken speedily and with little care for any of the passengers, including his partner in crime, who kept chiding him for his careless driving. Karina rolled from one side of the vehicle to the other, continuously bumping her head on all sides of the car. At one point she hit her head so hard that she literally saw stars._

_When they finally pulled to a stop, cut the engine, and climbed out of the vehicle, Karina was barely able to see through the pain and the tears clouding her vision. The hatch opened up in front of her and one of the burly men yanked her rather painfully out of the car. She was chagrined to see that they were at an out-of-the-way airport set far back into a wooded section of trees. There were only a few small planes, none of which looked particularly safe, and one of them was already lined up on the runway, engine running and ready for takeoff._

_Karina began to struggle anew, her strength quickly draining the harder she kicked and punched. Not a single punch or kick connected with any of her captors._

_"Cut that out," one of the men ordered her in a gruff voice thick with an accent Karina couldn't identify. "The boss wants his prisoner in one piece and if you keep kickin' out at us that way, you ain't gonna be in one piece."_

_Karina stilled, the man's words echoing through her brain. Their boss? Someone had ordered them to kidnap her? Her in particular or just whatever woman they could easily attain?_

_'Oh god,' Karina thought miserably as the men hustled her up into the running plane. 'Mom was right. I should never have taken this trip. Why are parents always right? And why don't you ever realize it until you're in this kind of situation?'_

_Karina was quickly strapped into one of the seats of the airplane as one of the kidnappers proceeded to the front of the plane to sit next to the pilot. The other man took a seat across from her, keeping a strong steady gaze on her as he strapped himself into his own seat. Karina squirmed as the man's lecherous eyes trailed over her body and she desperately wished she was swathed in a woolen blanket instead of tight jeans and a white, low-cut tank top._

_"I think our boss will be well-pleased with this one," the man across from her told the two men in the front of the plane._

_The co-pilot, the other man who had assisted in kidnapping her, turned in his seat to assess her. "She's all right. Nice tits."_

_Karina squirmed in fear and ordered herself not to cry. Not in front of these assholes. She didn't want them to see her at her weakest. Not until they completely broke her and she had no intention of letting them break her._

_"She's not supposed to see where we're flying to," the co-pilot told the other man. This was the man clearly in charge of this whole little operation. "So take care of it."_

_"I just put my seatbelt on," the dumbass groaned in annoyance._

_The co-pilot turned to face him, an expression on his face that indicated he would take no bullshit. "You can put your damn harness back on when you've taken care of the girl. It's not that fucking difficult."_

_Grumbling, the man across from Karina unsnapped his buckle and stood to his feet, glaring at Karina as he approached her. "Sorry, lady," he muttered without an ounce of genuine remorse. He picked up a nearby metal wrench and struck her across the right side of her face, knocking her unconscious almost immediately._


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: YOU KNOW THE USUAL DRILL. DON'T OWN, HAVE ANY AFFILIATION WITH THE ACTORS, OR MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THIS.**

* * *

_"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."_

Karina took a deep sharp breath and continued on.

* * *

_When Karina came to at last, she was being hauled into a tent in the middle of some woodsy forest in the middle of a foreign land. She was definitely not in America anymore, that much she could ascertain. Her wrists burned achingly with the pressure of the metal cuffs now adorning both wrists and even her legs were bound at the ankles. Some sort of rag had been stuffed into her mouth to keep her from screaming or crying out for help and it tasted of sweat and she had to strongly force herself to keep from vomiting. She'd just choke to death on it anyway. _

_She was dumped unceremoniously onto a hard wooden chair two minutes later and she winched at the sudden pain that shot through her. Tears briefly clouded her vision before she blinked them back and focused on what was going on right in front of her. The two men who had abducted her were now bowing to a much shorter man, who resembled a much more frightening verison of Mr. Potato Head. The tiny man's eyes were narrowed on her and constantly scanning her body from head to toe, as though she were a product he was inspecting before he put it out on the market._

_Karina's eyes widened as the truth sank in. That probably _**_was_**_ what it was! The sex trade was alive and going strong in dozens of other countries and, though they usually took their unsuspecting victims from airports in the foreign countries, it wasn't entirely unheard of for an American woman to be taken from her own homeland and never heard from again._

_Struggling anew, Karina kicked out at the first man that approached her, nailing him in the groin with her vicious swing. The man cursed and fell to the ground, clutching at his injured organ. One of the other men in the room caught ahold of Karina's flailing leg and he twisted it roughly enough so that she had no choice but to quit kicking out. He held her in place while he turned to address the Potato Head man that Karina could only assume was Russian by his accent and appearance._

_Her leg was released and her kidnapper stepped back as the other man, the leader, moved forward. Karina trembled in fear, too scared to even attempt defending herself again as the man's dark, ever-observant cruel eyes took in her form from head to toe yet again. A muscle ticked in his jaw and he licked his bottom lip as his eyes finally rose to meet hers._

_"I see you have a fight in you," the man said at last, with no emotion revealing whether he was angry, impressed, or altogether annoyed._

_Karina glared defiantly up at him._

_"I am sure you are wondering who I am and why you are here."_

_He was apparently waiting for some kind of response from her, so Karina nodded her head._

_"I'm Vladimir Valisimo. I am a most powerful dictator here in Bogota. I specialize mostly in the sex trade and you would make quite a fine piece of meat to sell to my loyal clients."_

_Karina's face paled as her worst fears had just been confirmed._

_"However, now having seen you for myself, I am reluctant to give you up." Valisimo crouched down next to the seat upon which Karina was perched and he placed his meaty right hand on her left thigh. Karina jerked, trying to get away from that touch, but to no avail. "You will stay here, be my own personal sex toy until I have grown tired of you, and then I shall sell you off to the lowest bidder because certainly the higher-ups wouldn't want a soiled woman."_

_Karina whimpered and she allowed several tears to slip down her cheeks. Valisimo ignored this and continued speaking._

_"I do take care of my possessions, but I will not tolerate impertinence of any kind, do you understand?"_

_Karina reluctantly nodded, not wanting to incite his ire until she could figure out a way to get herself out of this fucking mess._

_"Therefore, with that having been said... You do not attack my men and think you can get away with it." Valisimo pulled a small hand knife out of his pocket and set it against her skin directly below her right ear. He pressed the blade heavily into her skin, drawing blood instantaneously. Karina screamed into her gag and even more tears leaked out of her eyes. Valisimo dug the blade in even further to make certain his point got across before he withdrew it._

_Standing to his feet, Valisimo grabbed a silk scarf off the dresser next to where Karina was tied up and wiped the blood off of his favorite weapon of choice. His eyes were gleaming darkly as he set the knife down on the dresser and he then turned to the two men still in the tent. He ordered them out in their native language and once they had scattered, he turned back to the woman they had brought him._

_'Oh my god,' Karina thought, panicking as he knelt down next to her once more. 'Is he going to rape me now? Is it about to start? Lord, please get me out of here. Please.'_

_Valisimo roughly grabbed Karina's chin to jerk her face upwards. She blinked through her tears to bring him into focus, though she didn't know why she would ever want to. "You are mine," he growled. "No one else is to ever touch you. There will be dire consequences for both them and you." He threw her head off to the side forcefully, grabbed his knife, and stalked out of the tent._

_Karina hung her head and cried in earnest, her shoulders shaking as she realized she may never get home or see her beloved family again._

* * *

Silence filled the air once Karina stopped speaking. The only noise that could be heard was the soft 'hooing' of the owls up in the trees and the annoying chirping of crickets hidden in the grass all around them.

Murdock's hands were destroying his beloved hat. He needed to strangle something and, at the moment, all he had for a victim was his hat. Valisimo believed he'd get away with his barbaric, sadistic crimes forever, but he wouldn't. Murdock would see to it. Especiallly after what he'd done to Karina. Kidnapped her, beat her, cut her, maybe raped her, definitely traumatized her. No one would ever find all of Valisimo's body parts once Murdock was through with him.

"How long were you with him before you managed to get away?" Hannibal asked after about five minutes of complete and utter silence.

"I don't know," Karina replied in genuine perplexity. "A couple of weeks at least."

Murdock's nostrils flared and he nearly ripped his hat into two pieces he was gripping it so hard.

"I wish there was some way I could contact my family and let them know I'm okay." Karina ran her palms up and down her chilled arms. "I don't even want to imagine the pain and fear they're going through not knowing where I am."

Hannibal nodded, remembering a time when the team had lost Face for almost an entire month. They hadn't known if he was alive, or what was being done to him, or if they would ever see him again, even in death (if he had been killed). It could almost be as bad for the loved ones as it was for the person missing. It was not a feeling he would ever want any family to feel.

"Maybe you can," Hannibal told Karina, taking her by surprise. "We'll be going into town tomorrow and I'm sure we can find a phone to get you to. Along with some fresh clothes and toiletries you probably need."

Karina's eyes filled with grateful tears. "Really? Oh, that would be the best gift in the world right now!"

"Do you know your number?"

Karina quickly searched her brain and then she nodded. "Yes. Yes, I can still remember my number."

"Then that will be the first thing we do as soon as we reach town tomorrow."

"Thank you, Hannibal."

Hannibal nodded at Karina and ran his palms down the length of his pants. "I do have one thing that bothers me, Karina, about your story."

Murdock snorted in anger. "Just **one** thing?"

"Murdock," Hannibal chided before turning his attention back to Karina. "That wasn't the whole story, was it? I feel like you left a good chunk of it out."

Karina stared blankly down at the ground. "I did. Because I'm not quite ready to talk about... You know how I got here and you know why they took me. I think that's all that needs to be said at this point, really."

"I agree," Murdock muttered softly. "It ain't good to talk about things like that."

Karina eyed Murdock in concern and wonder. "Maybe not at first, but is it really good to keep it **all** bottled up for the rest of your life?"

Murdock glanced at Karina and silently wondered if Face had been talking to her lately. "It don't hurt nothing," he claimed.

Hannibal wanted to argue that statement, but found he didn't have the mental strength at that particular moment.

Karina stretched her arms above her head and stood to her feet. "Well, I think I'm gonna go lie down now. I'll see you guys later."

The men bid her a quiet good night and kept an eye on her as she slowly walked away.

The air around the two men now crackled with a quiet tension as they continued to play Karina's story over and over in their minds.

"Kidnapped from a place already foreign to her," Hannibal murmured at last, breaking the tense silence. "Poor girl. She really is quite a fighter, though. Very strong, that girl is. I admire that."

Murdock nodded in agreement. "That she is, Yoda." A small half-smile crossed Murdock's lips when Hannibal turned to glare at him.

"She'd make an excellent Ranger. In another time and place."

Again Murdock nodded in agreement. "She'd have wound up in Face's bed then."

Hannibal's head snapped to Murdock. "What?"

Murdock flushed when he realized he'd said that aloud. "Nothing, sir."


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. DON'T OWN. **

**WARNING: THERE IS THE START OF SOME SLIGHT SMUT IN THIS CHAPTER. NOT AS EXPLICIT AS IT WILL PROBABLY GET IN THE FUTURE, BUT SMUTTY JUST THE SAME.**

* * *

_"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."_

Hannibal had insisted Murdock go on back to bed, figuring Karina might need a friend right now, and it hadn't taken much pushing to get Murdock to agree, which it usually would have. He strolled quietly into the tent, expecting Karina to be fast asleep by now, and calmly walked over to his cot. He didn't glance at Karina, afraid it would bring certain issues...up. So he walked to his cot and immediately removed his shirt before bending over to grab his pajama pants from his cot.

Across the room, Karina's eyes flew open the second she heard the flap drift shut behind Murdock's entrance. She opened her mouth to greet him, but found the words lodged in her throat when he reached behind him and pulled his shirt off over his head. As he tossed the dirty fabric to the floor unheeded, Karina began to breathe hard. She'd seen him without his shirt a couple of times, but he'd either climbed under the blanket on his cot or pulled a shirt on so fast she didn't have time to appreciate the view.

Not so now. He was incredibly muscular, more so than he looked when he was fully dressed. His chest was well-defined with six-pack abs and a light sprinkling of chest hair, that Karina found herself longing to run her fingers through, and his arms bulged in just the right way. Karina had always found a man's biceps unbelievably sexy and Murdock's were some of the best she'd ever seen. And that black Ranger tattoo on his right bicep just added to his appeal and turned her on even more.

Good lord! Even his back was ridiculously muscular. Karina silently wondered at the man's strength. He seemed, from outward appearances and if one only glanced briefly at the group as a whole, to be the weakest of the four men. He was always hunched over and was very lanky, but now it was more than obvious that he was hiding great strength and power and muscles beneath all the clothes that constantly covered him.

Karina could see Murdock turn briefly in her direction. Thinking her asleep, he slowly, and quite erotically, slid his pants down his legs. Karina had to bite down harshly into her bottom lip when it was revealed to her that he wasn't wearing any underwear and she felt her whole body start to burn as he turned his back to her, his ass muscles flexing with his every move. A slow throb began a steady tempo in Karina's groin, picking up rhythm when Murdock turned slightly to the right, exposing the hard length of his impressive phallus.

Making a small, hopefully undetectable, sound in the back of her throat, Karina brought her left hand up to her mouth to bite down into the knuckles. She shouldn't be staring at him this way, ogling his gorgeously naked form, but she couldn't help it. The few men she had been with in her lifetime had looked nothing like **that**. And he was an Army Ranger, which made him all the sexier.

Murdock finally slid some sweatpants on, hiding his luscious body from her laschivious gaze. She sighed in both relief and disappointment and removed her hand from her mouth. She watched, much as a stalker or Peeping Tom would, as Murdock pulled the blanket on his cot back and climbed beneath it, yanking it up to his underarms as he folded his hands over his chest and stared silently up at the roof of his tent.

Karina sighed; she was undoubtedly bound to have some erotic dreams after what she'd just witnessed.

* * *

Murdock had just started to drift off into slumber when the sounds of a woman moaning had him snapping his eyes open instantly. He shot up and squinted his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he turned to the figure across the tent, but he couldn't see as well as he'd like from this distance, so he threw his blanket off of his overheated body and stood to his feet. Was she having another nightmare? Was he going to have to go grab Face? (Although if this happened too often, Murdock would have to learn how to deal with her himself. Otherwise Hannibal might transfer her to Face's tent and Murdock most assuredly couldn't have **that**.)

Tiptoeing across the tent, Murdock stopped just next to Karina's cot when he realized that her moans weren't moans of pain or fear. They were moans of...pleasure? Her head was thrashing slightly from side-to-side, her hands clenching the sheets beneath her tightly as she bit down hard on her bottom lip, whimpering as some unknown man (or woman? Murdock didn't know for certain which way she went) pleasured her in her dreams.

Murdock's pants tightened as Karina's legs moved up into a raised position, falling apart as an invisible hand seemed to move between her thighs. She moaned again, her back arching and the sheets bunching up around her feet.

'Bloody hell,' Murdock thought to himself and in a British accent no less. This was by far the hottest thing he'd seen in months, if not years. He wondered who she was dreaming about. 'Face, most likely,' Murdock thought bitterly. 'All the women dream of screwing Face.'

It didn't ease the aching throb in his own groin, however, believing that Karina was dreaming of another man. Just having an image to visualize when he thought of her in that way-late, late at night and in the privacy of the dense foliage of the woods-was enough to arouse him and forget any small, insignifcant details. Combine what he was seeing now with the images of her naked and, god, he was going to have fantastic fantasies to jack off to.

Just as Murdock turned to exit the tent and relieve himself of the sudden arousal he was feeling, Karina began to mumble in her sleep.

"Oh," she moaned. Murdock noticed that her grip on the sheets grew exceedingly rougher.

'She must be getting close,' he thought to himself and immediately he felt his cock twitch, pre-cum starting to leak at the tip. He groaned to himself; he needed to get the hell out of here. Like five minutes ago. The second he'd realized she was having a wet dream-he groaned again-he should have been out of the tent.

"There," Karina instructed her fantasy lover. "Oh yes; right there."

The silky arousal in Karina's voice was not something Murdock would likely ever forget nor would he forget the impact it had on his libido and state of mind.

"Please don't stop," Karina begged whoever she was dreaming about and that was the last straw for Murdock. He couldn't stop himself, even if he'd wanted to, from reaching down into his own pants to grasp his swollen member. He gasped at the sensation as he ran the nail of his thumb teasingly over the leaking slit of his head, the entire lower half of his body jerking in response.

As Karina's moans and whimpers grew more insistent and her thrashing became more erratic, Murdock began to whisper to himself in Swahili (in case she abruptly awoke) of things he longed to be doing to her. Things he imagined her imaginary lover was doing to her at that very moment to make her respond so vividly, so...fervently. Were his fingers stroking the loveliness of Karina's womanhood in a slow but repetitious manner? Was his tongue lightly caressing that small bundle of nerves that brought women the ultimate ecstasy? God, Murdock needed to know. And he needed to know **who** she was dreaming about. Why it was so important that he know... He really didn't want to think about that at the moment.

"Fuck!" Karina practically screamed as her back arched and her trembling legs tightened as she reached orgasm at long last. "Oh god, Murdock, so fucking good!"

Murdock was shocked at the abrupt and violent fashion in which he came into his own hand at the sound of his name falling from her lips as her body tightened and uncoiled with release. He'd never heard anything in his life so fucking erotic and he yelped at the powerful rush of emotions that nearly overwhelmed him as he pumped his seed into his hand and slumped against the cabinets near the head of Karina's cot before he fell to the floor in a jumbled heap of gangly limbs.

Murdock turned to press his back to the cabinets, glancing over at Karina as she settled down, her body instantly forgetting what it had just undergone as she rolled onto her side and resumed normal, dreamless sleep. For his part, Murdock would never be able to sleep again. Not with all that he had witnessed now rolling around in his head.

Having caught his breath and come down from the high his own orgasm had brought him to, Murdock slowly got to his feet and headed for the trunk located near the end of his cot. He quickly shed his now stained sweats for a pair of old gray running shorts-it was too hot this night to sleep in damn pants anyway.

Sighing, Murdock climbed onto his cot, not bothering with the blanket. His body felt like it was on fire from...well, just about everything. He glanced over at Karina and immediately regretted it when his dick twitched just the slightest bit. He cursed beneath his breath and rolled onto his side to face the tent. He began to sing one of his favorite nursery rhymes from when he was a kid, pulled his knees up to his chest, and began to rock himself back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**As always, I don't own these characters (except for Karina and whoever her friends may be if they make an appearance in the story later on). **

**Author's Note: I never claimed this story to be sweet and innocent. It will have moments of darkness (probably a slight bit of torture in future chapters) and mature themes (such as sexual situations). If you don't like, don't read. It's that simple. No one is making you read this story.**

**That said, enjoy! :)**

* * *

_"I don't know what I'm doing and it's the not knowing that makes it interesting."_

"How come Murdock didn't want to come?" Karina asked the group the next day as they drove through the brambles of the dense woods in one of the large supply trucks they kept handy around their base camp.

"Who knows why that fool ever does what he does or doesn't do," BA grumbled, leaning back in the front passenger seat with his eyes closed and his arms folded over his large chest.

"He doesn't usually like going into town," Face replied to Karina's question. "I don't know why, really. Guess he really doesn't like to socialize with anyone outside our own group. Not when he doesn't have to, anyway."

"I thought he liked pretending to be someone else when out in public," Karina muttered. "At least that's what he told me. And he was looking at me funny when we left."

"Was he?" Face thought about the covert looks Murdock had been casting Karina's way just before they'd driven away. "I thought he was looking at you the way a man who lusts after a woman looks at a woman."

Karina's face instantly flushed with embarrassed heat. "I'm sure he wasn't looking at me like **that**. You must have been seeing things."

Face chuckled. "Trust me, Karina, I know what a man looks like when he's lusting for a woman."

"Yeah. You do it often enough yourself," BA commented from the front.

"Besides, he probably wanted to keep Billy company," Hannibal joined in from the driver's seat. "You know how he hates to leave Billy alone."

BA snorted in amused fondness. "Crazy fool."

"Who's Billy?" Karina asked.

"Murdock's dog," Face replied.

"Dog? I haven't seen any dog around."

"Oh; because he's invisible. Billy is Murdock's **invisible** dog. Probably should have said that straightaway."

The vehicle became quiet as Hannibal drove onward, bounching over several sharp rocks and logs that littered the forest floor. On one hard jolt, Karina knocked her head into the side of the vehicle and she cursed quite colorfully as she rubbed at her sore noggin. When she glanced over at Face, she couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face.

"Sorry," she apologized remorselessly. "I should probably watch my language, but old habits die hard. Especially when I hurt myself."

"You're with soldiers, baby," Face returned with a wide grin. "We've said much worse things in much calmer environments."

Karina laughed. "I just bet you have."

* * *

Murdock whistled merrily to himself as he tossed an invisible stick out into the woods for Billy to fetch. He was replaying several episodes of Batman in his head so he wouldn't keep seeing Karina as she had been last night: lost in the throes of a passionate dream; about him. When he ran out of episodes, he started in on Gilligan's Island. Personally, he'd always seen himself as the Gilligan of the group, though it was typically Face who tended to screw plans up by getting over-involved with a woman while on a mission.

"What you got there, Billy?" Murdock asked as he walked a few yards over to a sycamore, clearly on its last pegs of life, which saddened Murdock, but he opted not to dwell on it. Instead he crouched down next to Billy, who was sniffing at something through the bushes in front of him.

Murdock's eyes narrowed when he recognized the small colorful box that surrounded the cell phone that rested within the case. He picked up the phone and examined it. It was in a hard casing with the colors of purple and turquoise, clearly a woman's phone, and he was chagrined to discover blood on the back of the case. There was even a small amount that had dropped into the case itself.

This had to be Karina's cell phone. There was no other woman around here, as far as Murdock knew, and she did say she was missing her phone. The fact that the blood on the phone was, in all likelihood, Karina's enraged him and he had to restrain himself greatly from crushing said phone in his hand.

* * *

"Did you get ahold of your family?" Hannibal asked as Karina exited the clothing store she had just purchased a few items at. Well, Face had bought them for her, choosing several rather revealing dresses for her that Murdock - and the rest of the men, for that matter - would appreciate.

"Yes," Karina replied in a voice shaky with copious different emotions. She wiped at the remaining tears in her eyes and sniffled loudly. "Couldn't understand them for about fifteen minutes they were screaming and crying so loudly, but I managed to tell them that I'm safe and with some military men - I hope you don't mind my embellishing the truth just a wee bit; I mean, it's not a complete lie, is it? - and that I would make sure to call them when I had an inkling as to when you would deem it safe enough to send me home."

Hannibal nodded in approval. "Very good. And, no, you weren't lying and, no, I don't mind you telling them you're with the military. That will just help put their minds at ease."

"Exactly what I had in mind."

Face suddenly appeared behind Karina, making her jump, startled. "What do you think of the dresses I picked out for you?"

Karina laughed as she took the proffered plastic bag from Face's hands. "I think they're perfect, especially for this climate. But I don't want to just wear dresses all the time. I tend to trip a lot and I don't want to accidentally flash anybody."

Face smirked as he leered down at her. "We won't mind. None of us are gay. Well, Murdock might mind. He can be a bit prudish. But other than that..."

Karina laughed once more and smacked Face lightly on the chest. "I'm gonna go buy a buy a few shirts and some shorts and then head over to that little market across the street and then I'll be ready to go."

* * *

Murdock was putting on a little sock puppet show with some of BA's socks when the others returned. He barely glanced in their direction when they approached him, instead continuing on in his special masterpiece production of The Wizard of Oz.

Karina glanced at Face in confusion. "What's he doing?" she whispered in curiosity.

"Oh, this is just one of the many whacky things Murdock likes to do in his spare time. He puts on little plays with socks, monkey puppets - really anything he can get his hands on. He likes to act out his favorite movie scenes too. Especially at night."

"Really? I've never seen him do it."

"Maybe he does it when you're asleep. You know, if he ever bothers you in the middle of the night, there's room in my tent for ya."

Karina grinned affectionately and shook her head. As desperate as she was to get home and see her beloved friends and family again, she would definitely miss these guys. They had become like her family as she'd grown more and more attached to the group the longer she was with them; Murdock especially, though she wasn't going to voice that out loud.

"You only have one bed," Karina pointed out, not noticing Murdock standing to his feet behind her.

"So? I'm a sharing man."

"You sleep naked."

"If that really bothers you, you can sleep naked too."

* * *

Murdock's head shot up at Face's last statement and he glanced between the conman and the woman Murdock couldn't get out of his head. They were standing awfully close together and discussing - what? Karina moving into Face's tent? Did she not want to stay with him anymore? Was she sick of him? Or was she finally realizing how attractive Face was and doing what every other woman did around him and finally giving in to his raw sexuality?

* * *

Karina shook her head and started to move away from Face. "As flattering as the offer is, Face, I'm quite comfortable where I am now. And I don't have to worry about any sexual harrassment in Murdock's tent."

Face pouted, his lower lip jutting out above his upper. "I wouldn't sexually harrass you. I'd leer at you and try to get you naked, but..."

Karina laughed. "That's the definition of sexual harrassment, Lieutenant."

Both of them grew silent as Murdock stomped past them, whispering fervently in a foreign language neither of them recognized as he stared hard down at the ground.

"Where do you think he's going?" Karina asked, turning to look up at Face.

Face shrugged. "You got me. But I'm gonna run take a shower and unless you want to join me..." He quirked his right brow suggestively.

Grinning, Karina shook her head in the negative.

"Damn." Face snapped his fingers in disappointment. "Oh well. I'll see you later then."

* * *

Karina followed the footprints in the dirt until she couldn't see them any longer. She stopped, wondering where Murdock had gone to without her having come across him.

As she started to move forward again, something suddenly swung down from the trees directly in front of her. She barely managed to swallow back a scream as she stared into Murdock's upside-down green eyes as he swung from a relatively low tree branch just above her.

"Murdock! What the hell? You trying to give me a heart attack?!" She emphatically placed her right hand against her chest.

"Sorry," Murdock apologized sheepishly as he released his legs' grip on the tree branch and then flipped over onto the ground in front of her.

"What are you doing up in that tree anyway?" Karina asked as she glanced up, seeing a small scattering of movement in the branches above. "Besides making friends with the small primates."

Murdock laughed. "I want to show you something."

Without waiting for Karina's reply, Murdock grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along behind him as he practically jogged through the forest until he reached his favorite place in this forlorn country: a small hot spring surrounded by the prettiest green foliage Murdock had seen in the last - probably ten or eleven years. At least.

Karina's breath caught in her throat at the view ahead of her and she squeezed Murdock's fingers in a gesture of gratitude. "Wow! This place is breathtaking!"

"I thought you'd like it." Murdock reluctantly released her hand and kicked off his right shoe to move forward, dipping a toe into the warmly heated water; he quickly removed his foot. "This water is a bit warm, but if you want to go swimming, there's a cool lake right over there." Murdock pointed through a pair of trees that were, ironically, bent forward in the shape of a heart at the small lake, complete with a small running waterfall.

"Damn," Karina cursed beneath her breath as she followed Murdock over to the lake. "I wish I had thought to buy a bathing suit while we were in town."

"You don't need a bathing suit. I can lend you a T-shirt and boxers. I don't mind. Wouldn't be the first time."

Karina bit down into her bottom lip thoughtfully, unaware of the affect that little action had on Murdock. "Or I could just dive in in my underwear."

Murdock gulped and shifted away from her so she wouldn't see her affect on his nether regions. "You want to swim right now?"

"Why not?"

"Okay. I'll just - just go back to camp."

"Don't be ridiculous, Murdock. You're coming in with me."

Murdock's attention shot back to her face. "I am?"

"Yeah. You like to have fun, don't you?" As she spoke, Karina reached down, gripped the bottom of the T-shirt she wore, and pulled it up and over her head.

Murdock gulped nervously and removed his ball cap. "Of course I like to have fun." In point of fact, Murdock removed his own T-shirt and threw it off to the side, keeping his dark, dilated eyes on Karina as he reached for the button on his cargo shorts.

Smiling, Karina tried not to blush as Murdock stripped down, revealing more and more deliciously tan skin. Well, pale compared to Face's skin, but definitely tan compared to her own ghastly white surface. She kept her eyes glued to his as she shimmied out of her shorts - originally the jeans she had arrived in, but she'd taken a knife to them and sliced off the legs up to a few inches above the knees because she'd found that, except for at night, it was constantly hot around here. There was a dark fire in Murdock's eyes that Karina couldn't really decipher and it sent a tingling jolt down her spine.

Now that they were both down to their skivvies - Murdock desperately wished she was wearing something more covering than that damn thong - they turned to the lake and stepped into the cool refreshing water in unison. Murdock repressed a shiver at the unexpected chill when the water reached his waist and he turned to Karina, who had dipped below the water up to her shoulders.

'Thank god,' Murdock thought to himself in relief. It was going to be difficult enough staring at her half-naked wet body, let alone the possible transparency of her very thin underwear.

Before Murdock could move forward, Karina swam towards him and splashed him in the face with a handful of water. He spluttered and spit out what little water had made its way into his mouth. He playfully narrowed his eyes and started to chase after her when she swam backwards, out of his reach.

"Oh, it's like that, is it?" Murdock asked, smirking when Karina backed herself into a large boulder. The only way for her to escape his water attack would be to swim around him or dive under the water to swim between his legs.

"Yeah. It's like that."

Murdock slammed his right hand into the water, aiming at Karina's head, just as she deliberately ducked beneath the water and disappeared. He felt her body slide between his legs in an attempt to get away and he quickly dove into the water and swam after her, catching her right away. He wrapped his right hand around her right ankle and dragged her back towards him.

Karina squealed and kicked back at him, but it didn't help her. She surfaced at the same time as Murdock and tried splashing him with more water, but he would have none of it. He had quick reflexes and he grabbed ahold of her wrists, pinning them at her sides beneath the water. He then gathered both her wrists in one hand while he used the other to deliberately splash her face-on with water.

Sputtering, Karina glared at Murdock after several splashes in the face nearly had her coughing up a lung. When she finally caught her breath, she swiftly lost it again. She was less than a foot away from Murdock, both of them half-naked and wet, and he still had both of her wrists locked tightly in his hand.

Heart thundering, cheeks suddenly flaring with heat, Karina's eyes drifted down to his full lips and she subconsciously licked her own. She longed to know the feeling of his lips pressed to hers, but she wasn't entirely sure he felt the same way about her as she did about him.

Murdock's own pulse pounded steadily beneath his skin as he watched her eyes dip to his lips and he wondered if she wanted to kiss him. He sure wanted to kiss her, that was for damn sure.

What was stopping him? - he wondered to himself. And what was the worst that could happen anyway? She pulled away in rejection? Maybe slapped him for his audacity? Was all that a risk he was willing to take? Just to kiss this one girl?

Watching Karina's small pink tongue dart out of her mouth to lick her lips, he decided, 'Hell yes it would be worth it!'

Murdock moved forward an inch and lifted his left hand to brush some damp strands of hair off of Karina's forehead. When Karina nervously bit down on her plump bottom lip, something inside Murdock snapped and he pressed forward until her breasts were crushed against his chest and his lips were lightly smoothing over hers.

Karina gasped in surprise and her hands fell loose from Murdock's grip to fall limplessly at her sides.

Murdock pulled away from her for a moment to stare questioningly into her eyes. When he didn't see any dismay or disgust in the blue orbs, he leaned in again, this time making their lip contact longer and a bit deeper. He caressed her lips lovingly with his, delighting in the smoothness of them beneath his and the sweet taste that promised more to come.

Breaking from her numb reverie at the fact that Murdock was actually kissing her, Karina lifted her arms and placed them on Murdock's shoulders, her hands interlinking behind his neck. She moved closer to him and subtly parted her lips, hoping to incite him to deepen the kiss even further.

Murdock was crazy, but he was no idiot. He knew he had her in the palm of his hand now, figuratively speaking. Not even a full second after she had parted her lips, his tongue was sliding along her bottom lip hesitantly. A thrill of excitement shot through his entire body when her tongue came out to caress his in an almost savory manner.

Groaning, Murdock pulled her closer and gently eased her tongue back into her own mouth, his following suit. He explored her mouth with expertise, swallowing her moans of enjoyment as she pressed against him, her hands coming up to tangle in the bottom of his messy hair. The feeling of her fingers combing and tugging through the sensitive strands of his hair made his dick ache and throb and he couldn't stop himself from grinding against the bottom of her flat stomach.

Karina dug her nails into Murdock's skull when she felt his erection against her bare skin through his boxers and she decided to take control of the kiss. She lowered her hands back down to his broad naked shoulders and forcefully pushed past his tongue in her mouth to explore **his** mouth, enjoying the taste of barbecue sauce on his tongue and the way he gasped in surprise at her sudden intrusion.

None of his fantasies about kissing Karina could compare to the actual reality that had suddenly been thrust upon him, Murdock decided as he guided his hands up her back to tangle in the long dark strands of her hair. Her lips were soft and plump and delicious and her response to him... It was like nothing he could have drummed up even in his own imagination. The press of her body to his, the feeling of her breasts cushioning his chest, was almost more than he could take.

Karina, on the other hand, couldn't think at all. Her body didn't feel like her own anymore. The fire that burned through her bloodstream, the ache of desire in her lower belly, the intense emotions racketing through her all belonged to somebody else. And it was that very someone who was kissing her beyond reason, beyond the realms of which she thought a man could kiss. She had never in her life been kissed with this sort of enthusiasm or passion.

Suddenly, Murdock felt something sharp dig into the bottom of his left leg and he pulled away from Karina with a painful yelp.

"Murdock?" Karina was staring at him in concern, her lips slightly swollen now from his kisses and her eyes heavily dilated. "Are you okay?"

Murdock shook his head in pain as his vision started to blur. "I, uh, I need to get to the medical tent. I stepped on some kind of...old bomb or land mine or something."

"What?!" Karina's eyes widened in panic and she began to flail about wildly.

"Just kidding," Murdock mumbled with a hoarse chuckle. "But I do need to get to the medical tent."

Karina's eyes narrowed angrily, but she swam over to Murdock and helped lead him back to shore just the same. "I'm totally going to kick your ass for scaring me like that."

Again, Murdock laughed. "I look forward to it."

* * *

**Forgive me any errors and, of course, wherever people will be OOC because it does happen. Probably more than I'd like it to. And I'm not a big expert on fish or lakes or anything like that, so please just take this all with a grain of salt. Thanks! **

**I appreciate all the love and support and am trying to finish this story as quickly as I can. (It'll be a few more chapters yet, though.) I thank you all for sticking me with me and hopefully you will find this story semi-rewarding.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER. THIS STORY IS PROGRESSING AS WELL AS I'D LIKE, I JUST NEED TO GET TO POSTING IT UP ON HERE. :)**

**DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN THE CHARACTERS OF THE A-TEAM OR MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THE WRITING OF THIS.**

* * *

_"Be strong enough to let go and patient enough to wait for what you deserve."_

"What happened to Murdock?" BA asked Karina an hour later as she sat on a picnic table in front of the mess hall tent.

Karina shrugged and swallowed her bite of bologna sandwich. "We were swimming in that lake back there-" She pointed to the left and through the woods. "-and I think he was bitten by something or...something. I hope it's nothing too serious."

"Well, even if it was a poisonous fish or something, that fool can pull through anything. Man, if he can get through Vietnam..." Realizing he'd said too much, BA quickly clamped his mouth shut.

Karina perked up in attention right away. "What? What happened in Vietnam?"

BA nervously ran his right hand over his beloved mohawk. "I don't know all the details, but the ones I do know... It ain't my place to tell you. If Murdock ever wants you to know, he'll tell you himself."

Karina sighed and slumped over. "I can understand and respect that.'

BA took a seat next to her. "You doing okay?"

"I've been okay for the last couple of weeks, Bosco. Well, mostly. Sometimes I still have nightmares, but fortunately they're not of the screaming variety anymore. At least not that I know of. Murdock hasn't tried shaking me awake, so..."

"That's good to know. Well, not about the nightmares..."

Face joined them at that moment, settling heavily onto the bench across from Karina and BA. "You guys hear about Murdock?"

Karina spun to face him immediately. "What about him? Is he gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, but whatever type of fish bit him, it bit him good. He's gonna be in the medical tent for at least two more days."

"Damn," BA muttered.

"Well, I'm never getting into that lake again," Karina grumbled, shuddering at the thought of whatever cretins were inhabiting that body of water. She'd always sworn she'd never enter a strange area of water because of the dangers that may lie within it, so why had she done so today?

Because she wanted to have fun and spend time with Murdock, that was why. And she couldn't honestly say that she regretted it. The only thing she did regret was Murdock having gotten hurt.

"Did Murdock talk you into going in?" Face asked curiously as he popped open the tab on his can of beer and took a swallow.

"No. Actually, I'm the one who had to persuade Murdock."

"Oh. Well, you know the hot spring? Did he show you that?"

"Yeah."

"That hot spring should be pretty clear of any strange animals, so you can still take a dip in there."

"Hmm... Well, maybe if I ever get a chance to buy a bathing suit. I didn't think about buying one earlier."

"Come with me tomorrow," Face said. "I forgot to buy a few things myself, so if you want to come with me..."

Karina nodded. "Okay. I can buy a nice-well, a decent suit and it'll give me something to do."

"I'll even help you pick it out," Face offered. "I've helped so many women pick out the perfect suit for their different body types. Some of them were even models."

Karina laughed loudly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

* * *

Murdock blew out a deep breath of annoyance the next day as he lay incapacitated in the medical tent. He hated being cooped up this way. He wasn't happy unless he was out in the wilderness playing with Billy or flying a chopper.

'Or making out with Karina in the lake,' he added to himself. The memories still burned in his mind and he longed to be with her right now, to have her company by his bedside. But she was out with Face somewhere, though BA hadn't been too specific with the details.

Jealousy burned bright and ugly in Murdock's heart. Those kisses in the lake had been a fluke, surely. She'd just been caught by surprise was all. He'd seen the spark between Karina and Face from the beginning, but he'd fooled himself into thinking she'd looked at him the same way he looked at her. He wasn't sure why he'd believed that was even possible. The last woman who had actually had strong feelings for him had left his bed the instant she'd met a stronger, less medicated military man. And it had broken his heart. Shattered it into a million pieces, in fact. Up until this point, she'd been the love of his life. No other woman had ever been able to compare.

God, that had hurt. They'd been together for almost two and a half years and he had been certain that Michelle was going to be the woman he'd spend the rest of his life with. When he had asked her out that day on a whim many, many years ago, he'd been shocked when she'd actually agreed. From that day on, his life had seemed to get better in all aspects. Hardly any nightmares, never had a problem getting an erection (though that particular problem had only lasted through one of his medications that he no longer took anyway), and he'd been constantly cheerful and smily with the other members of the team.

And then one day Michelle was gone. Her clothes were gone, her toiletries gone, everything had been gone except for the teddy bear necklace Murdock had given her the Christmas before she left. There had been no warning whatsoever, but there had been a cliche note on the dresser next to his bed. He hadn't read it for three weeks, afraid of what she had said in the note. She had left him and that was all he'd needed to know.

Of course he had eventually read the note, his heart breaking all over again at the almost sweet words written in perfectly curved calligraphy. She'd explained how she had always loved him, and would forever love him and 'carry a torch for him,' but she just couldn't picture herself bearing his mentally unstable children. Ever. And that statement alone had nearly destroyed him. It had taken Face nearly a month to get Murdock to open up and then another two months to get him out of his constant depression.

Until now, Murdock had promised himself he would never again fall in love. All it got a person was heartbreak, tears, and an empty bed. He'd seen it happen to both Face and BA and he was pretty sure it had happened to Hannibal as well, but not while Murdock had been with the team. Hannibal was lucky enough, now, to have found a loyal and loving woman back in the States who waited anxiously for him every night to come home to her, never knowing when or if he might actually show up, but longing for it all the same.

Karina was the first woman in years Murdock had felt drawn to. He'd been with other women sexually since Michelle of course, but he'd never felt attracted enough to them to envision any kind of possible future with them. He'd never expected anything from them and they hadn't expected anything from him (other than a night of as intense pleasure as he could provide them).

But now, with Karina, he could see himself settling down with the supple young woman. Whenever he was around her-hell, whenever he thought about her-his pulse raced and his palms grew sweaty and his heart nearly thumped right out of his chest with the pressure it created against his ribcage. She was sweet and quirky and he could relate to her on so many different levels. If he gave her half a chance and decided to open up to her, in the ways that really mattered, he could talk to her about-well, just about anything. Even the torture he'd undergone in Vietnam. Something he'd never been able to do even with Michelle.

Sighing, Murdock rolled over onto his side and glared at the back of Hernandez's head. He wasn't angry with the man, but he was slightly aggrieved that he had to be confined in this stifling tent for another day and a half while Karina and Face were out doing who knows what.

* * *

"Wow, this feels amazing," Karina murmured that night as she and Face settled down in the warm water of the hot spring.

Face smiled in agreement and allowed his arms to float freely in the water. "Doesn't it?"

"How often do you come out here?"

"I don't know. This is the first time in at least a month. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about this place until Murdock was taken to the tent after having gone swimming with you. Then I was reminded of the lake and the hot spring."

Karina sighed blissfully as she sank even further into the water. "This is the first hot spring I've ever been in."

Face chuckled and lightly splashed some water over at her, the water barely reaching her chin. "You need to get out more."

Karina laughed and sent a wave of water Face's way. "Yeah, I know I do. That's one of the biggest things I always complain about when I'm at home." Her face fell at the thought of home and Face scooted closer to her to soothingly rub her shoulder.

"You miss your home?"

"Of course. Don't you ever miss yours?"

Gray clouds darkened Face's eyes before he quickly shielded his expression once more. "I don't have a home. My home is wherever the team goes."

Karina tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "May I ask why that is?"

"I was raised in an orphanage," Face admitted after several long, drawn-out seconds. "My parents never wanted me once I was born and they dumped me off on the nearest Catholic orphanage they could find. The nuns raised me until I was about eleven years old and then I was passed around from foster home to foster home."

"That's terrible."

Face shrugged, his face an emotionless mask, something he had perfected well over the years. "This team is the only family I've ever known and the only family I'll ever need."

"Don't you get lonely, though?" Karina couldn't help asking and she blushed under Face's scrutinizing gaze. "I mean, don't you want to start a family of your own with a woman who loves you unconditionally?"

"Of course I do," Face admitted. "What man doesn't?"

"Haven't met her yet? Or are you afraid to become close to someone? Afraid they won't accept you?"

Face stared at Karina in surprise. How the hell could she be so astute about his feelings? "Are you a psychic?" were the words that bubbled out of his mouth.

Karina shook her head with a small smile. "No. But that's the way I would feel if I were in your position, so I just presumed..."

Face smiled. "Well, you presumed right." His eyes drifted briefly down to Karina's plump lips and he cursed, again, at the fact that Murdock had found her first. She was such a wonderful, caring woman that Face couldn't imagine any man not falling in love with her. It was difficult not hitting on her-seriously, anyway-knowing that her heart belonged to Murdock. He wasn't sure whether Karina herself knew or not-he knew Murdock would doubt it to his dying breath-but he could see it. Hell, he could feel it. Their emotions when they were together were so intense that it affected everybody else around them.

It was past time the two of them got their heads out of their asses and did something about it.

* * *

As usual, Murdock disobeyed the doctor's direct orders and ventured out of the medical tent as soon as Hernandez left for the night. There was no way he was going to lie in that smothering tent non-stop without at least getting out for a breath of fresh night air. And maybe he might go see Karina and let her know how he was faring.

Leaves and twigs snapped loudly beneath his booted feet as he passed his own tent, which he'd already checked and found empty of any person. He'd heard that she and Face had gone back to town because Karina wanted to buy a bathing suit, so maybe she was in the hot spring. Murdock would love to see her in the hot spring wearing a tight, almost moot, bikini as the water lapped around the voluptous curves of her body.

"Stop it," Murdock ordered himself in a firm, military voice. The more he pictured Karina's body, the harder up he got. And he needed all his brain cells to be able to think coherently. Especially around her.

Reaching his destination, Murdock came to an abrupt halt when his eyes fell on both Karina and Face sitting together in the hot tub. They sat awfully close together and were looking extremely cozy, especially as Face leaned forward and whispered something into her ear. She giggled in response just before Face dunked her beneath the water. She came up sputtering water and instantly went after Face, throwing her whole body on top of his in order to push him underwater. It backfired, however, as he dragged her in with him.

Murdock grit his teeth and stuffed his hands into his pockets. If he'd needed any proof of Karina's feelings for Face, he needed it no longer. Clearly she and the handsome conman had something between them, though it wasn't clear whether they had yet acted upon it or not. Probably not considering the way she blushed heavily when they both emerged and Face's head brushed up against her breasts; Murdock knew that had to have been deliberate.

When Face gently caressed Karina's left cheek before leaning in to softly brush his lips over hers, Murdock couldn't take anymore. He quickly turned on his heel and stomped away.

* * *

Karina stared blankly at Face as he pulled away after pecking her lightly on the mouth, his eyes twinkling with merriment. "What'd you do that for?" she asked.

"Wanted to test something." He'd simply wanted to see if she was attracted to him at all. If she was, it wasn't nearly as strong as her attraction for Murdock.

There was a look in his eyes that Karina couldn't decipher and she didn't want to ask what it meant.

Wanting to change the subject-and the sudden awkward atmosphere-Face deliberately splashed Karina in the face again.

Laughing, the two began a serious water war that lasted well into the dwindling twilight hours.

* * *

**I'm not completely satisfied with these chapters, but they're not too bad (I hope). **

**Well, until next time...**


	15. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER: ME NO OWN. ;)**

**AN: SORRY ABOUT MURDOCK'S BEHAVIOR AT THE BEGINNG OF THE CHAPTER. TOTALLY UNLIKE HIM. BUT THINGS LOOK UP AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER AND I PROMISE THAT WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF CHAPTERS, THE TWO CHARACTERS WILL START AMPING UP THE HEAT.**

* * *

_"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse."_

When Karina reached her tent, still wrapped in a fluffy white-and-blue towel that Face had provided her, she was taken aback to see Murdock angrily pacing the floor back and forth, his hands folded together behind his back.

"Murdock?"

Murdock didn't even glance at her as she spoke.

"What are you doing here, Murdock?" Karina asked, moving closer to him. But when he finally looked up at her, the look of utter fury in the deep green orbs startled her and she froze in her tracks. She had never seen that look in his eyes before. "You-you're supposed to be in the medical tent."

Murdock laughed without humor and turned his body to fully face hers. "You and Face would like that, huh? Like me to be out of the way?"

Karina's eyes narrowed in genuine confusion. "What?"

Shaking his head, Murdock scratched at the stubble on the bottom of his chin. "Don't worry; I'm going back to the medical tent in a few minutes. But when I return tomorrow, I think you should find another tent in which to reside."

Hurt flared within Karina's soft blue eyes. "Why? Are you mad at me?"

To Murdock, that was the fucking understatement of the century. "I just want you out," he said emotionlessly, in a voice belying the pain traveling through him.

Back stiffening, Karina fought back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes and instead glared heatedly at the man she'd slowly, and quite hesitantly, fallen in love with. "I'll do you one better, you insensitive asshole," she grit out, unaware of the pain her insulting words had on Murdock. "I'll leave tonight. Maybe tomorrow I can convince Hannibal to finally send me home."

Murdock watched her silently as she grabbed up her purse and the clothes Hannibal and Face had bought her over the past couple of days. His heart was aching with the thought of Karina leaving his life forever, but he supposed it was better than having to watch her love Face instead of him. He didn't want her to hate him, as she was clearly starting to, but, again, it was better than her confessing to him her love for Face and then promptly talking to him about it and trying to get his advice, as so many others of Face's girlfriends had done in the past.

"Where are you going to sleep?" Murdock couldn't resist asking once Karina had gathered up all her belongings and headed for the exit.

"What do you care?!" Karina snapped, exiting the tent without answering Murdock's inquiry.

* * *

Karina curled up in the fetal position in the sleeping bag she'd borrowed from BA's tent beneath one of the picnic tables located near the mess hall tent and she settled her head on the soft pillow BA had also loaned her. He'd said she could stay in his tent for that night, but Karina had politely declined. It was a nice night full of dazzling sparkling stars, she'd told him, which was why she wasn't sleeping in Murdock's tent that night. She hated lying to BA as he'd been nothing but super sweet to her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that Murdock had kicked her out. As angry and disappointed as she was with the pilot, she didn't want to see him get his ass beat by BA.

Karina rolled over onto her side and gripped the edge of the pillow beneath her, her eyes wide and open as she stared blankly ahead of her into the eerily dark night. Night, under normal conditions, didn't bother Karina. She wasn't a camper by any means, but if she was in the right company... But she had nothing to keep her mind from conceiving all of the terrible things that may be out in the forest, staring at her even now. What if Valisimo was circling the camp? What if he knew she was here and was planning his next move?

Karina cursed her wildly vivid imagination and rolled over onto her other side and clamped her eyes shut. Her heart was already pounding in fear at the lack of light to illuminate any wild animals in the area, so it wouldn't help any if she allowed her mind to get the better of her.

She wished she knew what she had done to piss Murdock off because she certainly felt much safer whenever he was nearby.

* * *

Had he really done it? Had he really forced Karina to go find shelter in another man's tent just because he was insecure and jealous?

Murdock groaned as he stared forlornly up at the ceiling of the medical tent. He'd let his pride get the better of him, which was rare, but not unheard of for the pilot. So what if Karina had chosen Face and not him? Sure, it hurt like hell, but it wasn't the first time it had happened. Of course, those were only women he'd been looking for a one-night stand with, not a serious relationship with. He hadn't cared too much that Face had snagged them instead. It had stung, but it didn't burn. It didn't sear his heart the way this thought, these images, of Karina running off with Face did.

Had she gone to Face's tent? Was she even now entangled in his sheets, her naked body wrapped around his? Was she moaning his name? Or were they talking about what an asshole he had been by kicking Karina out of his tent?

'Screw this,' Murdock thought to himself as he threw his legs over the edge of the cot he'd been resting on and stood to his feet. There was no way he'd be getting any sleep tonight, so he decided to head out and play with Billy for the rest of the night.

* * *

Face cocked his head to the side in confusion as he stared at the woman sleeping beneath a picnic table, curled up into herself as she shivered beneath the early morning chill. Dozens of questions filtered through Face's mind, but only one stood at the forefront: what the hell was Karina doing sleeping under the picnic table when she had a perfectly good cot to sleep on in Murdock's tent?

Kneeling down on his knees, Face reached beneath the table and gently shook Karina until her eyes fluttered open and she yawned widely. "Karina, what are you doing out here? Why aren't you in Murdock's tent?"

"Hmm? Oh; he kicked me out," she mumbled in a voice still full of sleep.

Face's eyes widened in shock. "He kicked you out? Why the hell would he do a stupid thing like that?"

"I don't know," Karina admitted as she sat up, knocking her head on the bottom of the table. She cursed, rubbed her sore head briefly, and then slowly crawled out from under the table. "But he was really angry with me last night. As soon as I walked into the tent, he was going on about wanting him out of the way or some such bullshit."

Face reached up and rubbed at the pressure point between his eyes. "I'll go talk to him and try to find out what crawled up his ass."

Karina nodded and stood to her feet. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower. Hope you're successful with Murdock."

* * *

"Murdock, what the hell were you thinking?!"

Murdock nearly leapt out of his skin at the suddenness of Face's voice bellowing throughout the tent, coming from behind him. He turned to face him and gulped nervously at the furious expression on the other man's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Facey." Feigning ignorance, Murdock figured, was the best way to go.

Face stalked towards him menacingly. "Oh, I think you do. But just to refresh your recollection... You kicked Karina out of your tent last night and forced her to sleep on the ground beneath a picnic table."

Murdock's face visibly paled, but he said nothing.

"What if Valisimo had been in the area, Murdock? What if he had spotted her? She was all alone and vulnerable and unprotected and we would have been none the wiser until it was too fucking late!"

"I thought-I thought she was staying with you. I assumed she was staying with you."

"Why would you assume that?"

"Because-because you two are..."

Face's eyes narrowed as a suspicion began to arise within him. "Because we're what?"

Murdock released a heavy breath and ran a shaky hand through his disheveled brown hair.

"Murdock, do you think that Karina and I are..."

"Maybe!" Murdock yelled, his southern accent more heavily pronounced whenever he raised his voice. "So what? It ain't none of my business!"

Face sighed, most of his anger dissipating at the pitiful insecurity that was Murdock. "Buddy, Karina and I are **not**, I emphatically repeat, are **not** fooling around. In any way. She's not interested in me in that way."

Murdock reluctantly met Face's sincere gaze.

"And even if we were, that's still no good reason to kick her out into an unsafe environment."

Murdock hung his head in shame.

Face moved forward and rested his hand soothingly on Murdock's shoulder. "Murdock, you owe her an apology."

Murdock nodded in agreement.

* * *

Karina was strolling along the forest floor not far from where the lake and the hot spring were located. Her heart was aching painfully beneath her ribcage as she kept revisiting the night before and the look of anger, despair, and betrayal on Murdock's face. What could possibly have occurred to make him treat her so terribly all of a sudden?

Blowing out a breath of hurt aggravation, Karina kicked at the leaves and dirt with her right foot. She needed to blow off some steam, but she didn't know how. There wasn't much to do around here, so her options weren't many, if any at all.

The sound of twigs snapping behind her made Karina jump and spin around defensively, ready to fight if need be. When she saw that it was only Murdock approaching her, her eyes narrowed and she turned her back on him.

The fact that Karina didn't even acknowledge him hurt more than Murdock wanted to admit, but he knew he more than deserved it. He had jealously jumped to conclusions about her and Face, let his insecurities and paranoia get the best of him. He didn't deserve Karina, which was something he's always known, but still... He didn't have to make it so damn obvious to **her**.

"Karina," Murdock began, but paused when she spun to face him, her beautiful baby blues flashing with fury and pain.

"What the hell, Murdock?!" she cried, her voice shrill with outrage. "I don't know what the hell I did last night to piss you off, but you could have at least given me some kind of legitimate reason for kicking me out of your tent! Is that so much to fucking ask for? Is it?!"

Murdock flinched at the volume of Karina's voice. "No," he replied in a voice so quiet Karina had to strain to hear him.

Karina took pity on the poor man and lowered her voice. "Tell me, Captain Murdock, why you did what you did."

Murdock winched at the official use of his rank. Under normal circumstances, the sound of it coming out of that sweet mouth would arouse him beyond belief, but not when she said it in that tone. She was using it against him, to keep him at a distance. He didn't like that. He didn't want her keeping him at a distance. He wanted her to love him.

"I was an idiot," Murdock admitted. "I-I saw you with Face in the hot spring and I just... It makes me uncomfortable, sleeping in the same tent with a woman who wants to be in Face's bed."

Karina stared blankly at Murdock as his words started to register in her brain.

"Anyhow, I'm sorry for being so rash and unreasonable last night. I was cruel-which ain't me at all, I swear! I hope you can accept my apology and we can still be friends."

Karina sighed and warily ran her hands through her slightly disheveled chestnut-brown hair. "Well, I accept your apology." Her eyes narrowed on the look of relief that crossed Murdock's face. "But that doesn't mean you're off the hook! I've let enough people in my life walk all over me already and I'm not about to let you do it too!"

Murdock's eyes narrowed. "I ain't trying to walk all over you."

"I know, but that doesn't mean that you're not."

"How? All I did was kick you out of the tent, which I shouldn't have done and we both damn well know it. But you don't have to be such a..." Murdock cut himself off and ran his hands over his hair in aggravation.

"Such a what?" Karina growled. "A bitch?"

Murdock just glared thunderously at her.

"Don't you give me that look, Murdock. You have no right to be angry with me."

Indignation flared heavily within Murdock and he couldn't stop himself from blurting out, "I have every right to be angry! You led me around like a puppy on a string when really you just wanted to be with Face! Do you honestly think that was fair to me? Do you?"

Karina laughed suddenly without humor. "God, Murdock, you have got to be the biggest idiot I have ever known."

"Oh, **I'm** an idiot?"

"Yes! **You're** an idiot!"

Without any warning whatsoever, Karina flew at Murdock, her hands entangling in his scraggly brown hair as she wrapped her body around his and heatedly pressed her lips to his, nearly knocking him off-balance.

* * *

**DUN, DUN, DUN...**


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN.**

* * *

_"Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it."_

Murdock stumbled backwards in surprise, caught completely off-guard. Of all the reactions he'd been fearing from her, this one hadn't even crossed his mind. Not even a little bit.

But Murdock was not a man to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he wrapped his arms tightly around her slender waist and hauled her closer to his body. Her lips parted beneath his and he mercilessly plundered her mouth with his tongue, staking his claim in such a savagely intense way that Karina's legs nearly gave out from under her. Her nails dug into the skin at the nape of his neck as Murdock's hands slipped over her bare shoulders in the golden-yellow sundress she wore.

God, her skin was even softer than it looked, which he hadn't thought possible, and the taste of strawberries was strong on her tongue. He shuddered at the touch of her hands gliding over his broad shoulders and dipping beneath the fabric of his T-shirt to scrape her nails along his highly sensitive skin. He groaned as the hard denim of his jeans rubbed up against his erection and he instinctively bucked his hips forward in a desperate attempt to ease some of the pressure.

Karina gasped into his mouth when the hard bulge in his pants erotically ground against her through the thin panties she wore. When he nibbled gently on her bottom lip with his blunt top teeth, she dug her nails into his shoulders and started to drag him backwards towards one of the large trees that scattered the woods around them.

Murdock pulled away when Karina's back scraped against the base of a tree to stare dazedly down into her eyes. She was breathing just as heavily as he was in the struggle to catch her breath and her cheeks were flushed endearingly with bright pink color. Murdock was pretty certain he didn't fare much better.

Karina blushed at the look in Murdock's eyes as he stared heatedly down at her. There was a myriad of different emotions flickering in the deep emerald depths of his eyes, but the two that stood out were lust and adoration. Any other emotion she was almost afraid to identify. Even if she knew that the same emotions were reflected in her own dilated eyes.

"What..." Murdock licked his suddenly dry lips, but refused to remove his arms from around her waist. "What does this mean?"

Karina chuckled affectionately and shook some hair out of her face. "You don't kiss women very often, do you, Murdock?"

Murdock shook his head with a small, shy smile. "I ain't the kind of guy women typically go for. Especially if they find out about all the meds I have to take."

When Karina reached up and stroked his stubbled cheeks, Murdock inhaled a deep, ragged breath. "Well, those women were stupid then and probably the ones who rightfully deserved to be on medication."

Murdock chuckled in pleasant surprise and tucked a stray lock of chestnut-brown hair back behind Karina's right ear. "Now I think **you** need to be put on medication."

Karina laughed in response and the sound was music to Murdock's ears. "Fine. Just put me on whatever you're on." With that, she stretched up on her tiptoes to plant her lips back on Murdock's, her hands falling upon his shoulders and her nails gently raking into his favorite Marvin the Martian T-shirt.

Murdock groaned into her mouth and pulled her closer to him, needing to feel her warmth and her body pressing intimately against his. He needed this contact. Aside from when Face had to hold him after one of his breakdowns after reliving horrible experiences while sleeping, Murdock hadn't had good contact in many years. Especially that of the female variety. All these years... Until Karina had come along, he hadn't realized just how much he needed this.

Karina needed it as well. She'd been dreaming about this man, fantasizing about him, for at least the last month she'd known him. She felt safer when he was around and more at ease when he started in with one of his silly accents that made her crack up when she wanted to break down and cry. When she'd first recognized her feelings for Murdock as the love that it was, she hadn't been all that surprised. She'd found herself drawn to him from the start-and he to her, it would appear-and she'd probably been in love with him from the moment she'd opened her eyes and spoken to him.

She could feel his affection in the way he was kissing her, the way he was holding her. No one had ever held her this way before. Like she was important; like she mattered. Not that she felt she didn't, but no lover had ever truly cared about her. And Murdock wasn't even her lover. Yet.

Murdock's hands slipped from their place in the middle of her back, over the small of her back, to rest on the very edge of her bottom. Karina moaned around his tongue, her body falling slack in his arms, and Murdock's hands traveled lower so that he was now squeezing the firm round globes in his palms. He smiled against her lips when he felt her own hands glide down his muscular back, touching briefly over a spot that made his entire body buck wildly against her in reflex, to grip his buttocks through his jeans.

Pulling away from the sweet taste of her mouth, Murdock began to trail his lips along the smooth column of her throat, eliciting small purr-like sounds from her. He gently sank his teeth into the skin of her clavicle and Karina cried out in pleasure, her hands digging into his hair and pulling roughly.

"Fuck," Murdock cursed against her skin, the power of the unexpected jolt of pleasure that shot straight down his spine to his groin from that almost violent yanking on his hair nearly rendering him one of those pre-mature fellas.

Karina smirked at Murdock's reaction and pulled again, delighting in the vibrating grunt against her skin. She pulled her left foot out of its sandal and ran it up beneath the bottom leg of his jeans to caress his bare leg. She gasped when his hands tightened on her ass just before delving even lower to trace his fingertips along the sensitive skin at the back of her thighs under her dress.

Murdock grinned as Karina pressed herself as close to him as she could and he slowly began to slide his hands up her smooth legs, up towards her bare ass and the promised land that rested between her thighs.

"Murdock!"

Groaning in sudden annoyance and disappointment at the sound of Face's voice echoing through the trees around them, Murdock slowly pulled away from Karina's tantalizing mouth to respond to Face.

"What?!"

Face appeared before them, his eyes briefly darting between the two flushed adults. There wasn't any time to make comments on their appearance, however. "There's a small battalion of men three miles west of here," Face informed Murdock, whose stance immediately stiffened. "Boss is saying grab whatever weapons you have. We need to beat them back before they discover our camp."

Murdock nodded, having already released Karina when Face had arrived, and turned to her. "You stay here," he ordered her and he could see that she was ready to automatically protest. "That's not a request, Karina. It's safer for you here in camp."

Face nodded in agreement. "There's not many men," he explained to her. "We shouldn't be gone for very long."

Karina gulped nervously, all previous thoughts and feelings banished to the back of her mind. "What if some come into the camp? What do I do?"

"You stay hidden," Murdock instructed her. "You don't come out until you see one of us."

Karina nodded silently and followed the two Rangers back to camp, her hands shaky as she clasped them together, her nails digging painfully into the flesh of her palms, leaving bloody little half-moons in the flesh. Ever since she'd been here, in the camp, there hadn't been even half a moment of danger, but she'd always known it was lurking just around the corner. Having it occur, however, was something completely different and as prepared as she'd thought she was, Karina would never be ready for any of it.

When the three of them reached the camp, Murdock led Karina to their tent and quickly grabbed several small guns-two Barettas and a Glock-and then turned to Karina, who sat stiffly upon her cot.

Releasing a deep heavy breath, Murdock slowly walked over to her and knelt down to take her hands into his. "Hey." When she continued to stare blankly ahead of her, Murdock grasped her chin between his fingers and gently forced her to look down into his eyes. "We've made it through worse things than this before," he said. "And I'll be back before you can shout 'Zip-a-dee-doo-da.'"

That got a reluctant yet nervous laugh out of Karina, which is what Murdock had been going for.

"And we're going to make damn sure that none of the men make it into the camp, so you're going to be perfectly safe."

"I know," Karina replied in a soft, quiet voice. "I trust all of you to keep me safe. Especially you."

Murdock gulped at the sudden pressure on his chest and he felt the air around him beginning to constrict. But after a few deep breaths, he was able to breathe easier again.

"But what if some stragglers do make it into the camp?" Karina asked, slight fear once again entering her eyes.

Biting down on his lower lip, Murdock grasped the butt end of one of his Barettas and placed it gently in Karina's hands. "If somehow someone does enter the camp and they discover you, use this to dispel them."

Karina gently held the firearm up for inspection. "But I...I don't...I'm not...I can't..."

"Don't know how to use it?"

Karina shook her head in the negative.

"Well, then you could use it to club 'em over the head and then tomorrow I'll teach you how to shoot it."

Karina nodded, her grip on the pistol tightening almost imperceptibly.

Face ducked his head into the tent at that moment. "Let's go, Murdock."

Murdock leaned forward and gently caressed Karina's lips with his own. When he pulled away, the fear in her eyes had distinguished somewhat. "Gotta go now." He was up and out of the tent before Karina could protest.

Clutching the pistol tightly to her chest, Karina fell back onto her cot and tried not to imagine the worst scenario possible as she closed her eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN**:** SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I LAST UPDATED, BUT IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FINALLY GET THIS CHAPTER FINISHED. **

**DISCLAIMER: AM IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH ANY OF THE ACTORS OR CHARACTERS OF THE A-TEAM.**

**WARNINGS: EXPLICIT SEX AHEAD! DO NOT PROCEED FURTHER IF THIS OFFENDS YOU OR YOU ARE UNDERAGE. THIS CHAPTER IS NOT OVERLY IMPERATIVE TO THE REST OF THE STORY. IT'S THERE JUST BECAUSE, WELL, BECAUSE THE CHARACTERS NEED A LITTLE LOVIN' IN THEIR LIVES. ;)**

* * *

_"We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are."_

Karina was startled awake when the shuffled feet of two people was preceded by the swishing opening of the tent flap. There was a muffled curse followed by mumbling and Karina shot up off her cot like a bomb had just gone off near her head. Her bleary vision cleared instantly when her eyes lit upon Face gently lowering Murdock down to his cot, Murdock winching slightly as he moved.

Eyes narrowing in concern, Karina stood to her feet and made her way over to the two of them. Her gaze fell immediately to Murdock's bare left shoulder-his shirt had been removed sometime before they'd entered the tent-and the white gauze that adorned the toned flesh. Crimson blood stained the gauze, but it looked like it had stopped bleeding a while ago.

"What happened?" Karina demanded as she sat down next to Murdock on his cot. "Did they shoot you? You're not gonna die of infection, are you? They're not coming after you, are they? Will you..."

"Karina, calm down," Murdock interrupted her and she automatically clammed up. "I didn't get shot. Wouldn't have bothered me if I had cause I've been shot before, ya know."

"Then what happened?"

"It was my own stupid fault. I, uh, I kinda..." Murdock scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and grew quiet.

Face, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear. "He ran into B.A.'s back walking back to camp and got sliced by the small knife B.A. had hanging from his collar. Not a big cut; enough to draw blood, but nothing serious."

Murdock scowled at the laughter in Face's voice. "Like you ain't ever run yourself into a wall or somethin' before."

"Sure I have, bud. When I was drunk."

Karina released a heavy breath of relief, smiling at the exchange between the two men. Their fondness for each other was obvious, especially when they joked back and forth, and it was clear they loved each other as close brothers would.

Shaking her head with a chuckle, Karina said, "Well, I'm glad you guys are okay. You are all okay, right?"

"Of course we are," Murdock replied with a cheeky grin. "Ain't nobody can bring down the A-Team, baby!"

The three of them shared a short laugh.

Face yawned widely as he stretched his arms above his head. "Well, I'm exhausted. I'm sure whatever you need now, Murdock, Karina can provide it for you." There was a twinkle full of mirth in his eyes as he smirked down at the two, who blushed with the same shade of pink in unison. It was rather adorable, actually.

Once Face had left the tent, Murdock turned to Karina and tried not to appear nervous being alone with her once more. He was as uncomfortable as a virgin about to have sex for the first time, but he most definitely wasn't a virgin. And who's to say they were about to have sex anyway? He was jumping the gun a bit here is what he was doing.

"I'm glad you're okay," Karina whispered softly as she trailed her fingers gently along the bandage on Murdock's shoulder.

"I'm glad you didn't have to use my gun," Murdock returned.

"Oh, if it had come to that, I'm pretty sure I would have run off like the chicken I am."

"No one would have blamed you for that."

"Maybe not, but I sure would have blamed myself." Her fingers, unbeknownst to herself, began to trail over his shoulder to gently run along the rough skin of his back.

"Nah; I wouldn't have let ya."

"Like you'd have much of a choice."

Karina frowned suddenly when her fingers touched on a sensitive spot on Murdock's back and he stiffened. Her fingers had lightly grazed over what she knew instinctively was a scar of some kind as the skin was a different rough texture from the rest of his back. It was a long jagged line that ran down from about an inch below his shoulders to just above the small of his back. There were a couple more near it. When she started to trace the long scar with the tip of her index finger, Murdock reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

"Don't," he whispered huskily. "Please."

"What happened?" Karina asked softly, obediently pulling her hand away from his scars.

"It...it's just a scar. Happened in Vietnam. It ain't important. I got scars all over my body."

Karina's eyes heated suddenly and a pink hue spread deeply into her cheeks.

Murdock grinned and reached out to slide his hand around the nape of her neck, pulling her forward. His eyes briefly locked with hers just before his lips were covering hers intimately. When Karina automatically sucked in a deep breath, Murdock slid his tongue along her plump bottom lip and then it slowly delved into her mouth.

Shuddering with sudden renewed arousal, Karina slid forward to fully wrap her arms around his broad masculine shoulders. Her nails scratched into his skin and Murdock abruptly pulled her forward and onto his lap, adjusting her legs on either side of his so that she was straddling him. Karina moaned into his mouth when her crotch landed directly over his bulging jeans, sending spikes of erotic sensation scorching through her system.

Murdock, all of his uncertainties having been tossed out the window earlier in the day when he'd finally come to what senses he had left and realized that Karina truly did want **him**, didn't hesitate to slip his hands beneath the bottom of her dress, grip her bare ass, and start sliding her lower half back and forth over his erection. They groaned into each other's mouths as heat spread from one into the other.

Karina wrapped her legs around Murdock's waist as she tilted her head to the side. Her tongue wrapped around his before retreating so that she could pull his lower lip into her mouth and suck on it. The grunt that escaped him was well worth it and so was the way he bucked his hips up against her, successfully rubbing against her sensitive clit without even having intended to. She squealed into his mouth and instinctively started moving against him of her own accord, trying to bring herself as much pleasure as she could while they were still fully clothed. Well, mostly clothed anyway.

Murdock adjusted himself on the cot and then started to fall forward, pushing Karina backwards until her back hit the cot and she was lying beneath him, her legs wrapped tightly-almost possessively-around his waist as she continued to gyrate her hips up against him. He pulled back briefly to catch his breath, his heated eyes staring wildly into Karina's dilated blue orbs. He took in the flush in her cheeks and the heavy way she breathed, her chest rising and falling heavily under his. Her chest was burning red with arousal and her erect nipples were poking up through her thin sundress.

Groaning, Murdock resumed kissing her, his tongue dipping deeply into her mouth and caressing every inch he could reach, while his hands trailed down her smooth bare shoulders and along the exposed portions of her chest until he was grasping her full heaving breasts in his palms. He swallowed her gasp of surprise as he thumbed her nipples through the yellow fabric, growing silently impatient with the need to feel all of her bare skin beneath his touch.

Karina was gasping and panting loudly as Murdock's lips fell to her neck and began to pull. She allowed her hands to drift up and grasp fistfuls of his tangled hair, tugging roughly when his teeth sank into the skin at the base of her throat. Her hips bucked and she was amazed at how intensely her pussy was throbbing with the pressure of his groin pressing down into hers. She wanted to push him away, rip his clothes from his gorgeous body, and demand he fuck her as hard as he could until neither of them knew who or where they were. But Murdock's weight was insistent upon her and she didn't really want to fight him for dominance; she'd lose anyway.

Impatient, Karina shrugged Murdock's face away so she could slide the straps to her dress down her slender shoulders. Once they were past her elbows, Murdock took over and slid the top half of her dress down to her stomach, exposing her beautiful braless breasts. His green eyes grew feral at the sight of the ripe pink nipples arching upwards, begging for his mouth.

Who was Murdock to turn away a pleading nipple?

Lowering his head, Murdock swiped the rough pad of his tongue over Karina's right nipple and she nearly leapt out of her skin at the first contact. A moan of guttural desire left her lips and she gripped Murdock's hair tightly as she pushed him down on her breast, wanting more, needing more. The throbbing intensity of desire pulsating throughout her body felt like it could never be extinguished, but she had to try. She needed Murdock's lips around her, suckling at her. Needed him to quench this hunger burning through her.

"Murdock," Karina moaned as he switched over to her neglected nipple. Her legs tightened around his waist as he lightly nipped at the hardened bud with his teeth before soothing it over with his tongue.

Murdock lifted his head for a moment. "Call me James," he whispered, right hand firmly kneading Karina's left breast as he went back to laving her right with his tongue.

"Mmm...James," Karina muttered softly and the sound of his given name being whispered in that breathless voice made Murdock shudder.

Murdock's left hand traveled down the length of Karina's body to come to a stop at her hip. He bunched her dress up around said hip and then trailed the tips of his fingers along her smooth inner thigh. She was trembling under him and he enjoyed the proof that he had such an impact on her body. He enjoyed more the even greater proof of the moisture that soaked his fingers when he tentatively ran his fingers over her womanhood.

Karina whimpered and arched her hips up towards Murdock's hand, wiggling back and forth when he rubbed his finger tortuously slowly up and down her wet slit. "James, please." She couldn't believe she was begging. She had never begged for a man before in her life. Of course, she'd also never wanted a man so badly as she wanted Murdock, so there was a first time for everything.

"What do you want me to do, baby? What comes next?" Murdock asked, eyes suddenly wide with false confusion, as though he honestly had no idea what to do next.

Karina laughed breathlessly. Even in the heat of passion, Murdock was too adorable for words. "I want..." She nervously licked her suddenly dry lips.

Murdock quirked his brow into the air. "You want? I know you want. I want too. But I want to specifically know what **you** want." He teasingly flicked her clit with his thumb and she squirmed some more.

"I want you to..." Karina felt herself blushing deeply, but it was well disguised by the flush of arousal already staining her skin bright red. "I'm not gonna say it! I can't say it," she whispered and the insecurity in her voice nearly broke Murdock's heart in two.

"Okay." Murdock leaned forward and tenderly brushed his lips across hers, pulling back before she could respond. "Maybe one day I can get you confident enough to do so."

Karina laughed nervously. "I doubt it."

Seeing a bit of himself in her-and not in any perverse way-Murdock leaned forward and caught her lips back up with his just as he slowly dipped the tip of one finger into her tight, pliant heat. He groaned at the same time she did, her hips bucking up against him and drawing his finger in deeper. She was so hot, so tight and snug. How could that be possible?

Murdock began to withdraw his finger and Karina's inner muscles clutched protestingly, squeezing his finger the way she would undoubtedly be soon squeezing his cock. He nipped playfully at her full bottom lip before slipping a second finger into her channel, feeling her wetness soaking both for easier passage. His other hand squeezed the breast it held and he ran his thumb over the hardened tip as he pushed his fingers deep, deep into her pussy, feeling the spongy flesh wrapping around his fingers like a vice.

Karina pulled his face closer to hers as she pushed down against his fingers, her moans and gasps swallowed up by Murdock's tongue. She could feel the flames burning in her lower abdomen growing brighter as she drew nearer and nearer to ecstasy, her thighs flexing into stiffness as her body suddenly became rigidly taut. A scream tore through her throat and into Murdock's as the pressure that had been pushing against her womb exploded almost violently. Her back left the cot as it arched upwards, her thighs unclenching as her inner muscles throbbed with release and spilled her secretions down Murdock's hand as he continued to pump his fingers rapidly in and out of her.

Murdock pulled his mouth away from Karina's as her body slumped down limplessly onto the cot, her breathing ragged as she stared up at him in wonder. He continued to stare down at her unblinkingly as he withdrew his fingers and ever-so-slowly brought them up to his lips. He watched her aqua blue eyes dilate as he traced his tongue up and over the tips of his fingers to clean them of her juices, his cock twitching at the flavor of her invading his taste buds.

"Mur...James," Karina breathed, her hands drifting up his muscled torso. Once she caught her breath, she used all her strength to push Murdock backwards until he was lying flat on his back below her. She blushed as his eyes drifted down her naked torso, staring pointedly at her bare breasts.

"Whatcha gonna do to me?" Murdock asked with a wide grin, his hands coming up to rest lightly yet possessively on Karina's round, voluptuous hips.

"What am I **not** gonna do to you?" Karina shot back before her brain could over-think the words and prevent her from saying them.

Murdock growled low in his throat and began to glide her lower body over the erection in his jeans, nearly coming apart as, even through the heavy material of the denim, he could feel her juices soaking his pants.

Karina moaned and leaned down to press her lips to his. When his tongue licked at her bottom lip, begging for entrance, she pulled away to trail loving kisses and nips to his rough, scar-riddled skin. The first scar she came to-a thin white line just above his heart-she kissed lovingly, silently informing Murdock she accepted him with all his scars and all his flaws.

Murdock's breath caught in his throat at this tender display and he overflowed with loving affection for the woman who felt like she'd been in his life forever.

Jerking up off the cot when Karina's lips fastened around the tip of his cock-when the hell had she managed to get him out of his pants without him noticing?-Murdock growled low in his throat when her tongue delicately licked along the underside of his shaft experimentally. His hands were digging into her hair without his express permission as she swirled her tongue over the sensitive head, his nails lightly scraping against her scalp as she pulled just the tip into her mouth and sucked. Murdock whimpered and bucked upwards, hands tightening in her locks as the buck of his hips had driven him deeper into her warm suctioning mouth.

Karina looked up at that moment, eyes flashing with a mixture of love and desire and a hint of deviousness, and smirked against him. Her hands impatiently tugged at the back pockets of his jeans, indicating she wanted them off of him. Murdock couldn't help giggling at the look of aroused aggravation on her face as she continued to tug unsuccessfully on his jeans, which clung to his body in protest.

"It ain't funny!" Karina declared vehemently, smacking him on the chest and smiling despite the voraciousness in her voice. "Lift your hips, you ass."

Murdock immediately complied, lifting his hips and wiggling his way out of the too-tight jeans. He tossed them haphazardly somewhere off to the side and then pushed his Tweety Bird boxers down his slim hips, leaving him utterly naked and exposed.

Heat flooded Karina's already hot cheeks and her pussy started to throb incessantly. Murdock really was a gorgeous specimen with all his hard contours, six-pack abs, bulging biceps, lean legs encased in muscle. And he was no shrinking violet in the manhood department either. Not that she'd ever believed he was. She **had **glimpsed him a time or two, after all.

"You just gonna stare at me?" Murdock asked after she hadn't moved for almost a full minute. "That's rude, ya know."

Biting down on her lip in modest embarrassment, Karina ran her hands up his muscled chest, fingers lightly stroking through the fine hairs that covered his pecs and upper abdomen. She calmed herself as Murdock took in a great gulp of air and began to breathe heavily. Her nails lightly raked over his toned flesh as she took him into her mouth once more, lowering her head several inches to bring even more of him in.

Not confident in his ability to maintain his self-control (it had been several years since he'd even been in a position with a woman to test his resolve), Murdock pushed Karina away from him and quickly flipped her onto her back. His lips were on hers possessively as he impatiently tugged the rest of her dress down her body. When it pooled around her feet in a jumbled mass, Murdock pulled away from her mouth to drag the yellow fabric over her feet; he tossed the dress to the floor and then pressed his lips to her right ankle.

Nibbling gently on her flesh as he slowly began to move up her leg, Murdock took note of every softly mouthed moan that fell from her swollen lips, every jerk of her body, every clenching of her fists at her sides. The sensation of smooth skin beneath his own lips was incredible to him and Murdock couldn't help but to switch to her other leg and begin doing the same.

Karina whimpered after Murdock had gotten so very close to her most sensitive area and then pulled away. Why was he teasing her so?

Halfway up her left leg, Murdock lifted her leg to bite roughly into the skin beneath her knee and Karina keeled loudly. Smirking, Murdock continued his trek north, eyes set on her reddened wet pussy. Above him, Karina squirmed under his gaze, embarrassed at the pure animal lust radiating out from his manic green eyes. She'd always been self-conscious when naked in front of another person and none of them had ever looked at her quite so intently, taking in every single detail of her body as he saw it.

Karina opened her mouth to tell Murdock to just fuck her already, but that was the moment he decided to spread her legs and press his mouth to the juncture between. She cried out so loudly she had to quickly bring her fist up to her mouth to silence herself. She tried to stifle her moans as best she could as Murdock lavished her pussy with utmost attention, his talented tongue not missing a single sensitive spot. It was as though he was eagerly searching for any particular sweet spot that would... Oh god! Like right there!

"Oh god; oh James." Her hands were in his hair as she undulated her hips against his face, crying and moaning as the pleasure became far too much for her and her body exploded into a thousand pleasant light particles.

Murdock slowly kissed his way back up Karina's torso, the flavor of her orgasm strong on his tongue; it was nearly enough to have him coming on the spot, but fortunately he **was** able to control himself enough not to do so. His lips brushed over Karina's when he finally reached the top, his left hand threading gently through her soft tousled hair. He pulled back slightly to stare down at her, silently noting how beautiful she was in the aftermath of ecstasy.

Karina grabbed him by the nape of the neck and yanked his face back down to hers, aggressively dipping her tongue into his mouth, tasting herself, as she wrapped her long legs around his waist and pulled him towards her. The tip of his cock nudged her entrance and she arched up against him, trying to take him in. She'd been waiting weeks for this moment; she didn't need it drawn out, as romantic as Murdock was trying to be with her, it wasn't what she wanted right now.

Murdock groaned into her mouth and pushed forward. Her body clutched tightly at him, squeezing him with such a force that it took Murdock's breath away. With a loud whimper, he slid forward until he was buried as deeply as he could possibly go.

Karina gasped, partly in pain as it had been almost a year since her last coital transgression, and pulled away from Murdock's mouth. There was love in his eyes that did a number on her senses and she gingerly combed her fingers through Murdock's disheveled hair. He arched into her touch much like a cat and then pressed a tender kiss to the palm of her hand.

"James," she began, but he was reversing out of her, her slick muscles clutching at him in a desperate attempt to keep him locked in place.

Murdock smiled softly as he ran his right hand down the length of her body to tightly grip her waist before he found himself thrusting back into her repeatedly, sending her into a deafening series of wailing moans. Her nails raked down his shoulders and into his back, her flexible legs drifting up and down the sides of his body.

"Oh baby, you feel amazing," Murdock murmured into Karina's ear just before he nibbled on the lobe. Unsurprisingly, Karina clenched tightly around him in pleasure and it wasn't long after that that Murdock himself was cursing and pulling out of her tight sheathe to spill onto her stomach. It had been so long, he'd forgotten to protect himself!

Murdock collapsed onto the cot next to Karina to catch his breath, one arm still wrapped loosely around her shoulders. Colors were swimming in front of his eyes pleasantly and his face was lit up with the biggest smile Karina had ever seen and as this was Murdock and almost everything made him smile, this was saying something.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing out here, fool?!"

Face jumped and spun guiltily around to face B.A., who was standing not three feet away from the conman as he crouched low behind Murdock's tent. He shot up to his feet and made a silencing gesture with his finger to his lips.

"Shut up, Bosco." Face glanced at the front of Murdock's tent, but no one emerged, thankfully.

"Were you listening to Murdock and..."

Face flushed red at the accusation. "Well, we don't have any porn around here. I needed something, Bosco!"

Eyes narrowing, B.A. marched forward and grabbed Face by the ear to haul him away from the tent, ignoring Face's painful protests as he tried to drag his feet in an effort to slow him, quite unsuccessful.

* * *

Murdock glanced down at Karina's stomach once he was finally breathing normally again. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed the first piece of cloth he could find and he used it to wipe her stomach clean. He threw the nasty soiled shirt off to the side and spooned up behind Karina as she shifted sleepily onto her side. He pressed a tender kiss to her temple, pulled her against his chest, and mumbled incoherently as he closed his eyes to join her in dreamland.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: IF MURDOCK SEEMS A LITTLE OOC AT SOME POINTS IN THIS CHAPTER, I DO SINCERELY APOLOGIZE. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS AS MUCH AS I ENJOY WRITING IT. AND I DO REALLY ENJOY WRITING THIS.**

**DISCLAIMER: YOU KNOW THE DRILL. NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR OWN IN ANY WAY AND MAKE NO MONEY.**

* * *

_"The worst battle you have to fight is between what you know and what you feel."_

The darkness was all around him, encompassing everything, keeping everything shrouded in its cold embrace. Wind whistled through the air like a ghost train, marking the only sound heard for miles around, minus the skittering of the tiny insects crawling all around his manmade cell, looking for food or someone to mate with. No light shone into the room, not even from the bright full moon he knew for certain was glaring down upon the earth at that very moment.

Murdock shivered at the knowledge that the insects were less than two feet away from him. They were waiting for him to lower his guard, he just knew it. He was a tasty piece of fatty meat to be devoured at their leisure. If he slept, he would never wake up again. Or wake up dead, maybe, which would be worse. Most people didn't believe in zombies, but if anyone was to become one, he was positive that, without a doubt, it would be him. One of the first, one of many.

Murdock scratched at his skin as he stared into the inky blackness of his cell. Fear was something he'd experienced before. In fact, as a Ranger, it was practically the only solid friend he had. A friend who'd never left his side, not once, since his first camping trip when he was nine years old and a bear had attacked the camp because he'd stupidly left the food out.

_'They ain't comin' for you, ya know.'_

Murdock jerked at the invisible voice echoing through his brain and instead of becoming too alarmed, he decided to talk back to it.

_'You don't know that.'_

_'Why would they want you back? You ain't sane and you know it. Pilots are easy to come by and maybe the next one will be one even B.A. would be willing to fly with. They don't need _**_you_**_.'_

Tears formed in Murdock's eyes as he couldn't think of a retort for that observant and true statement. The A-Team would be far better off without a drugged-up, slightly insane pilot pulling them down when they needed to remain up.

Murdock jumped when his cell door slammed against the wall, his heart nearly pounding right out of his chest. A small sliver of light infiltrated the darkness of the room, but it was quickly shrouded by the shadow of a tall man. Murdock shuddered as hands reached out for him and he crawled backwards, but there was nowhere he could go. He could escape reality and disappear into his own mind, but physically he could not sink into the concrete wall behind him, as much as he wanted to.

Murdock yelped loudly, hoping the shrill shrieking of his voice would bring someone, anyone, running to his rescue. All it got him was a swift fist to the stomach, causing him to double over as he was roughly dragged from the room.

* * *

Karina was jerked out of a sound slumber as the man next to her began to thrash, moaning softly in his sleep. She rolled onto her side and just barely moved out of the way as Murdock's arm flew out in front of him to punch at air. Or, rather, at the attacker in his dreams.

"You bloody, dirty, filthy..." His words trailed off into garbled curses, the panic in his voice rising higher and higher.

Fear and concern stabbed into Karina's chest as she sat up completely and began to press her hands to Murdock's bare chest in an effort to try waking him up. "James?"

Murdock didn't appear to hear her and his thrashing grew even wilder, legs kicking madly out all over the place. "No," he whimpered in an almost broken voice, fear seeping through in spades. "Please don't...please stop...please..."

Karina's heart broke at Murdock's pleas and she longed to do something to take the pain away. Actually, she longed to go back in time and prevent any of the pain he'd experienced from taking place in the first place. Whatever had happened to him, it had clearly had a markedly severe impact on his psyche.

"James, no one's hurting you," she tried whispering in his ear, but it had no effect on him. What could she do to bring him out of this sleeping hell he was suffering through? Was it not horrible enough that he'd had to go through it once before without having to relive it again and again? "I'll never let them hurt you again."

Coming close to a panic herself as Murdock struggled violently against invisible hands holding his body down, Karina began to sing softly, her eyes flooding with tears as she gently ran her hands along his bare chest. To her surprise, his struggles began to lessen, the whimpering dismay in his voice softening until he was finally settling down completely, his eyes slowly drifting open to stare dazedly up into her face.

Karina smiled gratefully, her eyes still watery. "There he is," she whispered, stroking her right hand along the stubble of his right cheek.

"Karina?" Murdock blinked rapidly to bring her into focus.

She nodded and started to withdraw her hand.

Murdock's left hand flew up and wrapped around hers, holding it in place against his skin. "What...why are you lookin' at me like that?"

"I just want to know that you're okay."

"I'm fine; why wouldn't I be?" He took in his surroundings and their lack of clothing. "I'm definitely more than fine."

At Murdock's smirk, Karina breathed a small, short-lived sigh of relief. "Do you remember?" she asked softly and Murdock's smile faded.

"Was I havin' another nightmare?"

Karina nodded wordlessly.

Murdock sat up suddenly, startling Karina, and he pulled her against his chest to hold her close. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Of course not. Why would you think you'd hurt me?"

"Because I know whenever I have one of these episodes I fight and kick and sometimes bite. Face has complained many a time about me sinkin' my teeth into his chest or neck or something."

Karina smiled and couldn't help saying, "Maybe he was just disappointed you didn't finish what you'd started."

Murdock threw his head back and laughed, any residual feelings of panic and fear dissipating instantly. His arms tightened around her protectively and he leaned down to press a tender kiss to the top of her head.

Karina looked up at him as her left arm wrapped around his waist. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Murdock stiffened beneath her. "I ain't a big talker of things."

"Yeah, I've noticed that. I can't blame you, though. I don't talk about things either." She felt his left hand on her shoulder start to soothingly rub up and down her arm. "But I'm here if you ever do need someone besides your team to listen to you."

Arms tightening around her again, Murdock tucked her head beneath his chin and pressed a loving kiss to her forehead. "Give me time, baby. Just a little time and then I'll be more than ready to talk."

* * *

"You told her you would one day tell her about Vietnam?" Face asked in surprise, staring at Murdock with wide eyes.

"Well, not in so many words, but...yeah, sorta."

Face laughed loudly and clapped Murdock happily on the back. "Wow! That's huge, buddy!"

Murdock shrugged self-consciously and flipped the burger patty he was grilling over. "If you say so."

"Of course it is." Face picked up his beer bottle and took a long, heavy swallow. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Murdock twitched slightly at the question and didn't respond, but the pinkish hue spreading into his cheeks told Face all he needed to know.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Murdock. Love is not..."

"I ain't ashamed!" Murdock declared vehemently, glancing around quickly to make sure no one could hear them.

"But you're not ready to admit it out loud to yourself?" Face finished, observant as ever.

Murdock shrugged again, choosing to remain quiet.

Face sighed and tried not to let Murdock's silence bother him. Murdock, in general, was an open book about almost everything except for two main things: the torture he'd undergone in previous missions; and previous relationships, whether serious or simply one-night stands. In the beginning, Face had done everything he could to try and extract any information he could from the stringy pilot, but it hadn't taken long to realize that nothing could make that man talk when he didn't want to. Face had been more than happy to provide details of his own love life over the years and Murdock had been more than willing to listen and provide advice when Face needed or requested it, but remain tight-lipped when Face tried to subtly steer the conversation to his own past conquests. To say this aggravated Face beyond belief would be a major understatement.

"You know, one day I'm going to get you to spill the details on some of the women from your past," Face told Murdock as he took another heavy drag of his beer. "Including your current lover. That one I'll really want to know about. She's fucking hot."

Murdock spun on Face, right hand roughly gripping the metal spatula he was using to flip the burgers. "How would you know whether we're actual lovers or not?"

Caught off-guard, Face paused with his beer halfway to his lips. "Well, I don't **know**. But after what I interrupted yesterday, I just assumed that once I left you guys alone last night that you would take the initiative to finish what you'd started."

Murdock's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

B.A. and Karina arrived at that moment and, relieved, Face turned and bolted for the nearby picnic table. Karina blushed deeply when her eyes locked with Murdock's and she quickly averted her gaze self-consciously. Her eyes met Face's and narrowed at the slight smirk spread across his lips. His left eyebrow rose into the air as he observed her and Karina wondered just how much he knew; how much had Murdock told him?

"How do you like your burgers, Karina?" Murdock asked, not a trace of a hint as to what had occurred between them the night before inflicted in his voice.

"Um, the usual?"

Murdock glanced up at her, eyebrow quirked. "What's usual for you? Do you want me to add my secret sauce?"

Face choked on his beer at that moment in laughter, snorting it out of his nose as he tried to get himself under control.

Murdock glared at him while B.A. slapped him hard on the back, nearly sending the conman stumbling to his face on the ground.

"Medium, I guess," Karina replied, cheeks flaming with embarrassed heat. "Whatever the usual burger would be cooked at. As long as it's not burned. I won't eat it if it's burned."

Murdock 'tsked' her with a shake of the head. "You're too picky for such a skinny thing," he muttered, amusement lacing his voice.

"I am not that skinny," Karina shot back, hands automatically balling up on her hips. "Nor am I that picky." Her lips twisted to the side as she thought about it. "Well, maybe I am. But I can't help it. I grew up in a picky family."

"Excuses, excuses. I grew up in a picky family too, but I've always loved trying new things."

Face nodded in agreement, finally having gained control of himself at last. "Thus the need to add strange new ingredients to every meal he cooks."

"Stop whining, Faceman," Murdock griped. "You know you love my sauces."

Face was grateful that this time he wasn't in the middle of sipping at his beer as he burst into laughter once more, this time the other three joining in with him.

* * *

"You ready?" Murdock asked Karina as she wrapped her left hand around the handle of the Baretta Murdock had handed her, her right coming up to close over her left and the handle.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Her grip on the gun was shaky, but her stance was rigid and confident, just as it should be.

Murdock chuckled and moved closer, ignoring the pattering of his heart the closer he got to her. "Tighten your grip," he instructed her, coming to a stop directly behind her. She did so and Murdock grinned proudly. "Atta girl."

Karina glared at him over her shoulder. "I'm not a damn dog."

Murdock laughed. "Then why am I goin' to have you bent over in the doggie position later on?"

Deep red heat spread into Karina's cheeks and she quickly averted her gaze.

Moving up behind her, Murdock gently reached out and placed his left hand over hers. "Now, cock it back."

Karina obeyed again, body flaming from where Murdock's touched hers. "This would probably be a lot easier if I had my glasses with me."

Murdock cocked his head to the side as he tried to imagine her with glasses. "You wear glasses?"

"Unfortunately. But I think I'd left them in the rental car back in Massachusetts."

Murdock frowned slightly at the reminder of how she'd gotten here, but then he shook his head to clear it. "I bet you look sexy with glasses." He smiled, charmed beyond belief, when she blushed once more. He'd never been able to make a woman blush before her. "And yes, it would be easier if you had your glasses with you. But I'll just show you how to aim and shoot, which is all you really need. If someone is so far away that they're blurry to you, you probably wouldn't need to shoot 'em anyway."

"Good point." Biting down into her bottom lip, Karina pointed the gun at the target a little over twenty feet away and squinted. "You want me to squeeze it?"

Murdock silently groaned and rested his hands on her hips. "Depends on what you're talkin' about, baby."

Karina chuckled and instinctively wiggled back against his rapidly rising cock. "James, behave."

"If I must." He saw Karina's finger start to press down on the trigger and he quickly stopped her when he realized that neither of them were wearing earplugs. "Wait!"

Karina jumped at the sudden loudness of his voice and her finger slipped off the trigger. "Earplugs?" she asked almost breathlessly, heart pounding.

"Yeah." Murdock reached into his shorts' pocket and pulled out two pairs of earplugs. He handed one pair to her and then stuck the others into his own ears. Once she'd done the same, he gestured with his hand for her to take aim and fire.

Karina squeezed the trigger and fired off a round that shot through the air like lightning, striking the target dead on.

Murdock gaped as Karina lowered the gun with a triumphant grin. "You tellin' me you ain't never shot a gun before?!"

Karina turned to face him. "I haven't. I guess that was just beginner's luck."

Murdock scowled, ashamed to admit that he felt a bit intimidated by a woman who could shoot better than him. Of course, he'd never been the best shot anyway in the best of situations himself, so maybe it had just been a lucky shot.

Karina frowned noticeably. "What's wrong? Disappointed?"

Murdock shook his head to clear it of the fuzzy cobwebs and voices trying to turn him against her and the earplugs fell out of his ears to land on the ground. "Of course not, baby." He wrapped his hands around her waist again and hauled her bodily against his chest. "You could never disappoint me." He dropped his head to press a kiss to her lips, ignoring the fact that she still held a pistol in her hand without the safety on.

As Karina started to return Murdock's passionate onslaught, the gun began to slip from her slack grip. She quickly tightened her grip once more and pulled away from Murdock, who had to show her how to put the safety back on.

"If I accidentally kill someone in camp one day, it's on you," she grumbled as Murdock gently placed the gun on the ground; he chuckled.

"I'll take full responsibility."

He was pulling her back into his arms the second he'd straightened back up, hands gently caressing up and down her back through her too-tight T-shirt. Did she have to show off her incredible body to every man in the damn camp? Murdock was half-tempted to just keep her tied down in his own tent where he, and he alone, would be the only one able to view her. Maybe she'd be safer that way too.

Karina slid her hands beneath the red and white fabric of the Hawaiian T-shirt Murdock wore, feeling bare flesh beneath her palms. She shuddered, loving the delicious sensation of the rough, battle-hardened skin against her own. They'd only made love once, but she was certain she'd never be able to get enough of Murdock, even if they were physically together twenty-four hours a day.

Murdock reluctantly pulled away from Karina to catch his breath and look around. "We're too close to camp," he rasped. "Anyone could see us."

Grabbing her hand up with his, Murdock led her off into the bushes to the side of them until he was certain they wouldn't be seen or heard and then promptly began the _arduous_ task of seducing her.


End file.
